"False name", "Metanoia", "Something is wrong with this kingdom"

SISTEMA GALLERY opens three solo exhibitions at the same time: Sasha Yakutina "False Name", Alina Fedotova "Metanoia" and Sasha Puchkova "Something Wrong With This Kingdom", curated by Nadia Oktyabr. The exhibitions will be held on different floors of the gallery from March 17 to April 15, 2023.

SISTEMA GALLERY expands its program of exhibition activities and begins to present projects of various formats, including experimental ones. The gallery plans to collaborate with artists working in different techniques and directions.

Sasha Yakutina

Personal exhibition "False name"

In her works, Sasha Yakutina uses the collage method, building complex epic and cinematic scenes that refer to the staged photographs of Bernard Faucon, Ryan Shude. The plots are based on the irony of modern society with its endless material and emotional consumption - the overabundance of things and impressions is literally reflected in the works. Sasha Yakutina creates photo and video collages based on user-generated and advertising Internet content of the 2010-2020s, images found in various sources, ranging from popular public pages to abandoned forums - the artist uses traces of modern culture. Part of the digital space moves into reality in the form of a diorama sculpture based on the “face-dipping cake” shot from the Breakfast video. The works reflect the psychosis of society as a stream of all at once desires that cannot be satiated. As the artist herself says: "Tired of a constant holiday, but not to have the courage to leave it."

Alina Fedotova

Personal exhibition "Metanoia"

In the exhibition "Metanoia" Alina Fedotova addresses the topic of ecology and morality, using the biblical stories of the Last Supper and the betrayal of Judas as a metaphor for "sin" against nature, which requires "repentance and communion". As an oceanologist and researcher at the Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Alina Fedotova explores this topic using the example of modern Japan, where the aestheticization of everyday life and high technology are combined with the capture of whales and other large marine mammals for food. The artist sees here the conflict of aesthetic and ethical principles, present in modern society. At the exhibition, the combination of images of Japan, the space of the Southern Ocean and Christianity creates a single statement - a call for "metanoia", which is translated from Greek as

"rethinking", "change of mind" following "repentance". The presented paintings, installation from printed graphics, videos are only part of the project created based on the impressions of Alina Fedotova’s long expeditions to Antarctica in 2020-2022. The project reminds of the unity of the ecosystem and calls for cosmopolitanism, awareness of the responsibility of each person for planet Earth.

Sasha Puchkova

Solo exhibition "Something is wrong with this kingdom"

A series of engravings with frame-objects and porcelain sculptures by Sasha Puchkova connects the fantasy images of the Middle Ages and the present: if then their source was biblical stories, now it is mass culture. The artist refers to characters whose appearance or character is not fully described, therefore they are open to interpretation. Discrepancies in the images of creatures and some phenomena of Christian scriptures are known, the images of which can be found in Catholic book miniatures. The fabulousness of the Middle Ages has become a source of ideas and images for modern visual culture: films, series, cartoons, fantasy and science fiction video games. Therefore, in the "medieval" engravings of Sasha Puchkova, characters appear that we are already accustomed to seeing from the screens: Maleficent, Snow White, and others. Characters of our time, mainly female, Sasha Puchkova also interprets it in her own way, transforming not only her appearance, but also her character, giving them more individuality: each “evil” heroine has her own backstory. This is a kind of fanfiction, the destruction of stereotypes. In general, this is a new trend: to rethink old stories in the ethics of the 21st century with the priority of the values of the individual and his characteristics. Frame-objects wrap around the engravings like extraterrestrial beings, reminiscent of science fiction films. Such confusion, symbolism, inherent in mass culture, is compared with medieval folk thinking, and our time, including for this reason, is called the “new Middle Ages”. rethink the old stories in the ethics of the XXI century with the priority of the values of the individual and its features. Frame-objects wrap around the engravings like extraterrestrial beings, reminiscent of science fiction films. Such confusion, symbolism, inherent in mass culture, is compared with medieval folk thinking, and our time, including for this reason, is called the “new Middle Ages”. rethink the old stories in the ethics of the XXI century with the priority of the values of the individual and its features. Frame-objects wrap around the engravings like extraterrestrial beings, reminiscent of science fiction films. Such confusion, symbolism, inherent in mass culture, is compared with medieval folk thinking, and our time, including for this reason, is called the “new Middle Ages”.