Cosmoscow 2019 Programme Highlights

Cosmoscow International Contemporary Art Fair announces the highlights of this year’s commercial and not-for-profit programmes. The seventh Cosmoscow Fair is taking place at Moscow’s Gostiny Dvor on September 6–8 with the Privilege and VIP Preview on September 5, supported by its long-standing partners: Main Partner Qatar Airways, Strategic Partner Credit Suisse, Automobile Partner Audi, Official Partner Ruinart, Jewelry partner Mercury, Beauty partner La Prairie and Official Hotel St. Regis Moscow Nikolskaya.

Cosmoscow 2019 will welcome more than 60 galleries from Russia and around the world, including art market powerhouses such as long-time influencers in Giorgio Persano (IT), Galerie Frank Elbaz (FR), and Georg Kargl Fine Arts Gallery (AT); alongside a more recent generation of players in Emanuel Layr (AT/IT); Peres Projects Gallery (DE), and Temnikova & Kasela (EE).

Margarita Pushkina, Founding Director of Cosmoscow International Contemporary Art Fair and Founder of Cosmoscow Foundation for Contemporary Art, said: “This year, we are happy to welcome an impressive number of high-caliber international participants. This proves that our strong belief and investment in the development of the Fair as an international platform are paying off. We are encouraged by the continued support of our long-standing and new partners. It is gratifying to note that the circle of like-minded people and institutions united around Cosmoscow grows with each passing year. We are pleased to announce that starting this year, purchases benefiting museum collections will be made at the Fair. All of this creates a synergy effect that is crucial for Cosmoscow mission of building and developing the contemporary art market in Russia, promoting Russian artists in a global context.”

Galleries

At the 2019 edition of the Fair, a focus has developed on leading figures of the communist avant-garde and seminal works of the 1960s–1980s. Giorgio Persano, from Torino, will showcase the works by Italian master-artist Michelangelo Pistoletto, who will star in the Cosmoscow Talks programme. Galerie Frank Elbaz from Paris, will foreground works from the Estates of Dmitry Prigov, Julije Knifer, and Mangelos. While Emanuel Layr from Vienna will bring works by Stano Filko to Cosmoscow.

Presenting works by current generation stars will be Georg Kargl, from Vienna, that will present a solo exhibition by the Bulgarian conceptualist Nedko Solakov, who has a popular following in Moscow. Peres Projects, from Berlin, present a group show of their most relevant artists. Tallin’s Temnikova & Kasela will include current star of the Venice Biennale Kris Lemsalu, and gallery Kai Forsblom, from Stockholm and Helsinki, is making a major presentation of new sculpture by Stephan Balkenhol.

SECTIONS

This year, the Focus section is dedicated to galleries from Italy; with several exhibitors showing works by Russian-born artists. It will welcome Sara Zanin Z20 Gallery, Rome with a solo-show by Ekaterina Panikanova and C+N Canepaneri, Milan with works by Roger Hiorns, Alberto Garutti and Arseny Zhilyaev.

Introduced last year, the enhanced Edition section will once again feature galleries dealing with prints and multiples by established contemporary artists at entry-level-pricing. Shaltai Editions will showcase second part of their NATI project featuring works by Andrei Monastyrsky, Irina Nakhova, Vadim Zakharov, Taus Makhacheva among others. JART gallery prepares a special project with Russian well-known artists, including Eric Bulatov, Leonid Sokov, and Alexander Kosopalov.

Cosmoscow will once again feature the Discovery section welcoming emerging galleries that promote young artists. Along with Cosmoscow participants from previous years (Agency. Art Ru, ARTIS Gallery, Osnova) we will also welcome newcomers (Syntax Gallery, Szena Gallery, PRO ART’S) as an eloquent evidence of the developing contemporary art scene in Russia.

Our Russian galleries are presenting a dynamic mix of artists that spans generations. Moscow’s Artwin Gallery have especially commissioned art projects by Alisa Yoffe and Evgeny Granilshchikov. XL Gallery will show works by Alexey Buldakov, Ekaterina Muromtseva and Alexander Povzner. And VP-studio (Vera Pogodina Gallery) will show works by Olga Tobreluts, one of the pioneers of Russian new media art with works at the Tretyakov Gallery, Russian Museum and MoMA, New York.

Cosmoscow Stand Prize will be awarded for the third consecutive year. The winner will be offered the free participation in Cosmoscow 2020.

Cosmoscow Foundation and Special Projects

The Cosmoscow Foundation for Contemporary Art continues its commissioning project with new works by the MishMash art group (Artist of the Year), exhibition project by Zarya CCA from Vladivostok (Institution of the Year), the space dedicated to Moscow Museum of Modern Art (Museum of the Year) booth, and a project by artist Maria Agureeva, the winner of the Ruinart Art Patronat grant.

Cosmoscow also feature works by Brazilian artist Vik Muniz selected by Maison Ruinart for a residency as part of their artistic collaboration series. Additionally, the Credit Suisse Cosmoscow Prize for Young Artists will be awarded at the Fair for the fourth consecutive year. The aim of the prize is to help emerging creative talent in Russia move forward with their careers. The winner will receive a financial grant of CHF 3,000, mentorship support and the opportunity to participate in an art residency at the PROGR Art Center in Bern, Switzerland. Thanks to the new partnership with Pro Helvetia Moscow, which supports Swiss arts in Russia and promotes cultural exchange, the winning artist’s stay in Switzerland will be extended from one to three months.

Cosmoscow Foundation will also introduce a new project aiming to support mid-career Russian artists. In 2019 it is a large-scale installation by Irina Korina.

Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, the Moscow Museum of Modern Art (MMOMA) was chosen as Cosmoscow Museum of the Year. Being partners since 2015, this year Cosmoscow and MMOMA focus on supplementing the Museum's collection from two sources. One of them is a part of this year’s governmental acquisitions programme to the Museum’s collection via the Cosmoscow exhibiting galleries. Another source is an annual donation made by Cosmoscow Foundation for Contemporary Art to a Russian museum chosen as Cosmoscow Museum of the Year.

As a follow-up to our years-long cooperation and mutual support, Garage Museum of Contemporary will present its Archive Collection and an international online platform RAAN (Russian Art Archive Network), initiated by Garage in 2017. Garage space will celebrate the archive of Vladislav Mamyshev-Monroe, to acknowledge the late-artists fiftieth anniversary. A part of the artist’s archive entered the museum’s collection in 2018 and was made available via the RAAN platform, an online catalogue that documents contemporary Russian art. The space will feature a reconstruction of unrealised Barbie (2005) photo series' backstage. In the Cosmoscow Talks programme, Garage Archive curator Sasha Obukhova will participate in presentation of the the recently created website commissioned by the Vladislav Mamyshev-Monroe Foundation.

Collector's Eye