Olga Bozhko ’Tree-(Tree-Wood)’, 2010 Courtesy of the artist and Calvert 

Practice for Everyday Life

The young Russian artists exhibiting at Calvert22 have created works which, unlike their predecessors’, are able to respond free and unfettered to ideas on the contemporary art scene, without fear of reprimand or consequence. It is interesting to assess how far the artists challenge the dominant ‘status quo’ in their works, or conversely, whether their pieces perpetuate universalised ideas about ‘mass’ culture through presenting artworks, which fail to critique normative ideas about the form and content of ‘art’.

 

Let's look at some young artists from Russia: Calvert 22 “Practice for Everyday Life”

The new exhibition of Young Artists From Russia- “Practice for Everyday Life”- at East London gallery Calvert 22, takes its title from the book of the same name written by Michel de Certeau in 1980. De Certeau’s book explores the way in which people individualise mass culture, and critiques the presentations of individuals as passive receivers of culture and ‘non-artists’.

 

Woman Yells “This is Evil” While Punching Bare Breast Painting With Her Fists

At the National Gallery in Washington DC, one woman’s day at the museum turned dark as her hatred for the work of Paul Gauguin combined with her deeply repressed lust for bare breasted Tahitian women boiled over, prompting the her to officially lose her mind and attack the thankfully plexiglass encased priceless work of art while yelling at it.