"Sergei Borisov and the Soviet Artistic Underground. Attempted reconstruction"

is an exhibition of works by the world-famous Russian photographer Sergei Borisov, dedicated to the Russian underground artists from the time of perestroika.

The exhibition is presented in the context of the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall in 2019 and the significant events of the glasnost and perestroika that led to its demolition.

Borisov was born in Moscow in 1947. In the late 1970s he founded Studio 50 A, which became a seat of the Moscow bohemians. Borisov’s studio was often compared with Warhol’s Studio 54, due to the fact that Studio 50 A also attracted a wide range of free-spirited people. The studio hosted exhibitions, presentations and gatherings of those who, then overshadowed by official culture, ten years later would become symbols of the new post-Soviet era.

His ironic and critical or poetic photographs from the time of perestroika and the early 1990s are tools for acquainting the West with the Soviet underground culture and its artists, who were then setting in motion a new wave of counterculture. In this period, photography was still a risky occupation, but the nonconformist Borisov used it to bravely show the "other side" of the Soviet dogma.

Sergei Borisov in Plovdiv. Exhibition (2 November - 5 December 2018)

His Plovdiv exhibition is set to take place in SKLAD from 2 November to 5 December 2018. 62 photographs will be shown, including photographs taken by Sergey Borisov just before his exhibition in Bulgaria. The audience will see for the first time "Desperate Graffiti Authors" (2018) and "Street Dance" (2018), as well as some of his most famous works, "Sunset" (1985), "Acrobat" (1993),"Pas de deux" (2016), which undoubtedly are becoming symbols of its age. The exhibition under the motto Zeigeist will introduce audiences to the author, critics and curators, to engage us in an active discussion of the generations' view of the period of socialism and the transition through the prism of art.

Zeitgeist

Zeitgeist is a philosophical term that translates literally as the "spirit of time" and most accurately corresponds to the artistic career of Sergey Borisov. It is Zeitgeist that covers the diversity of the author's artistic language. He is not a documentary photographer and uses different genres - portrait, naked body, studio and landscape photography. The exhibition will be a place where guests will be able to meet the artist, as well as critics and curators. The show is meant to kick-start a stimulating discussion about the times of socialism and transition seen through the lens of art. Curator is Katrin Borisoff - artist's daughter and Director of Ru Arts Foundation.

Borisov's works have been exhibited in museums and galleries the world over. The artist's focus is on portrait, the nude, and studio and landscape photography.

The exhibition project is organized by "Art Agency" of the curator Stefan Stoyanov with the support of the Ru Art Foundation.

Share this page on