Russian art lovers and collectors who live in the US have very few chances to see contemporary Russian art, because Russian contemporary art scene follows the rest of the economy in becoming more self-contained. Also, recent depreciation of the ruble made it almost impossible for Russian galleries to show at the major art fairs.
The more exciting is the Recycle Group exhibition in New York’s Richard Taittinger Gallery. In 2010, Recycle Group, a Russian art collective, received a prestigious Kandinsky prize and was featured in the Russian Povera exhibition at the Perm Modern Art Museum. Russian Povera (Poor art) was Slavic answer to Arte Povera with one minor difference: if Italian Arte Povera developed as a protest to consumerism and opulence, Russian Poor Art developed simply because of poverty.
Recycle Group still uses mediums synonymous with poor art, such as rubber, polyester, and plastic mash. Recycle’s works are very visually strong. That’s probably one of the reasons that the collective has been invited to the 2015 Venice Biennale.
The show in New York is on view until Sunday, May 3, 2015.