As an institution, the art museum accumulates a large amount of powerful energy from various dynamic and creative spirits, which it then shares with the audience. Vladimir Dubossarsky and Alexander Vinogradov reveal the secret life of an imaginary museum hidden from the viewer’s eye. Renaissance, avant-garde and mass- media images are synthesized in the monumental paintings created for this project. The texture of large canvases and the smell of oil are still regarded as essential attributes of the Old Masters, which refer to the heritage of Raphael, Tintoretto, Durer, Veronese, daVinci, Titian, Rembrandt and many other great masters.
The audience, however, should be prepared for something unexpected. While they are looking at the paintings, the paintings are observing them. Thus, the viewer becomes a part of the installation. The museum is not a safe place for the audience anymore. We are constantly being watched, even in the quiet and cool exhibition halls. The relationship between art and the audience becomes a crucial part of the project, no less important than the paintings themslves. This dynamic interaction provides food for the artists’ further projects and research.
Vinogradov and Dubossarsky have been working together since 1994. Combining the language of social realism, pop-art, kitsch within credible plots and aiming to achieve success and to produce hits, the artists work out their own laws and follow them. No matter what they are talking about–art, love metamorphoses, war or peace–there are neither traditional heroes nor the compositional completeness of classical easel paintings exist in their works. Incredibly spectacular, devoid of personal revelations, paintings by Vinogradov and Dubossarsky are close to the “badpainting” tradition. Compiling the images of la bella vita originated by giants of the advertising business and entertainment industry, the artists portray a new version of post-modern Arcadia in their works.
Alexander Vinogradov and Vladimir Dubossarsky participated in the 50th International Art Exhibition of the Venice Biennale, Sao Paolo Art Biennial, Valencia Biennale and other important international art shows. Their works are in the collections of major museums including: Hausder Geschichte (House of History)Museum in Bonn, Germany; Centre Georges Pompidou, France; Duke University Museum of Art, USA; Houston Museum of Contemporary Art, USA; MACI Museo Arte Contemporanea Isernia, Italy; Museum Of Contemporary Art of Avignon, France; Museum of Contemporary Art of Valencia, Spain; Secession Museum, Austria; State Tretyakov Gallery and State Russian Museum, Russia; and others.
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