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A Moebius Loop

a-s-t-r-a х SPRING/BREAK Art Show NY20

March 3-9 2020

625 MADISON AVENUE New York

ROOM 1156

a-s-t-r-a is pleased to announce its participation at SPRING/BREAK Art Show in New York on March 3-9, 2020 with a special project.

The project Moebius Loop, curated by Anna Evtiugina and Alina Kryukova, features works by Dima Hunzelweg, Maria Agureeva and Graham Akins.

“There is a God-shaped hole in human consciousness, where the divine had always been but had disappeared, leaving an emptiness behind.”
– Jean-Paul Sartre

“Black holes ain’t as black as they are painted. They are not the eternal prisons they were once thought. Things can get out of a black hole, both to the outside, and possibly to another universe. So if you feel you are in a black hole, don’t give up. There’s a way out.”
– Stephen Hawking

Every human is a microcosm that tries to comprehend and mirror a macrocosm that is the Universe, at the same time rendering an explanation for it in course of an infinite reflection resembling a Moebius loop. It represents a void that invariably requires an ever-busy filling and exploration. This void that we all have to carry inside ourselves is ambivalent. On the one hand, it is a black hole that always requires filling, always craves for more. Sip by sip, it drains our lives, sucking all the energy of creation dry. This process results in invincible entropy, an eternal nothing. On the other hand, it is a bridge connecting a person with the Platonic world of ideas, a world of awareness and understanding that we are more than what we consume, much more than this hole of overconsumption.

Simulacra, illusions disguised as facts of real life, numerous interpretations, Deleuzian copies, and total replication are the toils of the 21st century we got caught ourselves in. Still, the dread before the Universe fills our minds. It can be a reflection of this beautiful gigantism with all its ambitious plans and futuristic dreams. Nevertheless, the attractiveness of the unknown, the urge to interact and the fear of silence, make a quest for self-awareness a new Odyssey, possibly opening up a new reality for new humans. The energy of human life and consciousness is a creative force that fights entropy, chaos, decay and death, this overflowing amount of the dead, which should be put to an end.

Exploring how outer ‘less’ requires inner ‘more’, Dima Hunzelweg’s extremely eye-catching and skin-friendly wall objects are results of an extremely meticulous and time-consuming working process. He expands the boundaries of art and media both literally and metaphorically. In terms of form, his paintings transcend the limits of a flat pictorial image. Through the use of wider stretchers, they morph into wall objects blurring the distinction between painting and sculpture, between 2D and 3D dimensions.

Driven by such questions as how many restrictions can be put on a human body by fashion and entertainment related industries and how natural and artificial can coexist in a framework of a single object, Maria Agureeva creates enigmatic and painfully sensual works of art. She explores the relationships between the human body and nature, between real and fake. Can the surrogate substitute the ‘real’ if we are not able to distinguish between what is real and what is not anymore? The lines are getting blurred, and nothing seems intentionally artificial and we take it as a norm.

Graham Akins deals with our complicated relationship to reality, simulation, and how technology mediates the depiction of the external world. Using photography, video, 3D modeling and sculpture, the artist creates large multimedia installations. They play with notions of objecthood, the uncanny valley, our understanding of otherness and contemporary methods of image-making. Recent projects include investigations into the aestheticization of trash, experimental wildlife documentaries that explore the quality of our relationships to other minds and found object sculptural video combines that abstract materials into simulated forgeries of themselves.

Working in XR, video and photography Nikita Shokhov focuses on the duality of human nature: body and mind, science and religion, sexuality and politics. In “Scan” project, he goes beyond the boundaries of traditional “direct” photography, but at the same time remains in the field of documentary. The slit scanning technique applied in the presented series of works cracks onto the phenomenon of mass processions and allows the viewer to see the 4th dimension - the dimension of time - that the human eye would not normally see.

 

Agureeva Maria

Maria Agureeva was born in 1985.

Graduated from Saint Petersburg State University of Technology and Design (faculty of graphic design, 2003-2009), IKA (Institute of Contemporary Art, Moscow) (2014-2015). The artist works with installations, videos, performances, and sculptures. Lives and works in Los Angeles and Moscow.

Maria Agureeva was born in 1985.

Graduated from Saint Petersburg State University of Technology and Design (faculty of graphic design, 2003-2009), IKA (Institute of Contemporary Art, Moscow) (2014-2015). The artist works with installations, videos, performances, and sculptures. Lives and works in Los Angeles and Moscow.

AWARDS AND RESIDENCIES

  • 2021 - Residence Via Farini (from December to January), Milan
  • 2019 - Ruinart Art Patronat grant
  • 2018 - 18th Los Angeles street art center (August to September).
  • 2018 - Grant from TRUST FOR MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING.
  • 2018 - the Winner of the special award, Laguna Art Prize.
  • 2017 - Residence Unlimited New York (from February to April).
  • 2013 - nominee of the Kandinsky prize.

PERSONAL EXHIBITION

  • 2019 - Passing, Cosmoscow, patron of Ruinart, Moscow.
  • 2019 - Dust, coaxial art Foundation, Los Angeles.
  • 2018 - It will never be enough, Isabel Lesmeister gallery, Regensburg.
  • 2018 - Pearl Dust will settle on the soft skin covering all the cracks, atrium gallery, 18th Street Arts Center, Los Angeles.
  • 2018 - you can imagine what will remain after, Anna Nova gallery, Saint Petersburg.
  • 2018 - Dust, Elektrozavod gallery, Moscow.
  • 2015 - Binary promises, Parallel program of the 6th Moscow Biennale of contemporary art, Pechersky Gallery, Moscow.
  • 2014 - gardens of compromises, Erarta Museum, Saint Petersburg.
  • 2013-Those women who can destroy the infinite, Parallel program of the 5th Moscow Biennale of contemporary art, Pechersky Gallery, Moscow.
  • 2012 - Citius, altius, fortius! Commodification, the Factory Project together with Gridchinhall, Moscow.
  • The 2012 Excavations. Ground 0, Gridchinhall, Moscow.
  • 2011 - a series of "Tormozit", gridchinhall, Moscow.
  • 2011 - a series of "Tormozit", Gallery Kadieff, Helsinki.
  • 2009 - series "Tormozit", AL Gallery, Saint Petersburg.

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

  • 2022 - Kammerflimmern. Outdoor screening organized by ArtSect NFT Gallery х Digi-gxl. Nuremberg, Germany
  • 2021 - Cosmoscow art fair, a-s-t-r-a gallery, Moscow
  • 2021 - Women Artists. One and The Other, Gilyarovsky center (ArtsWanted), Moscow
  • 2020 - No matter. What?, Leer-Emptyblank, Vienna
  • 2020 - Personal contacts, Durden and Ray, Los Angeles
  • 2020 - Where's the Remote?, SIT STILL PROJECTS, Connecticut
  • 2020 - Mobius Loop, A-S-T-R-A gallery, Spring break art show NY, New York
  • 2020 - Cosmoscow Art Fair, Moscow, Russia
  • 2020 - ENTER Art Fair, Copenhagen, Denmark
  • 2020-Technosphere, Supercollider Gallery x Femmebit, La spring art show, Los Angeles.
  • 2019 - MMOMA 99/19, 20th anniversary exhibition, MMOMA, Moscow.
  • 2019 - Recycle or die, Gum Red line, Moscow.
  • 2019 - The Regenerates, Nook Gallery, Los Angeles.
  • 2017 - Just cause, Black Ball Projects, new York.
  • 2016 - Unofficial language, VINZAVOD center for contemporary art, Parallel program of the V Moscow international Biennale of young art, Moscow.
  • 2016 - All eyes on me, VINZAVOD center for contemporary art, Moscow.
  • 2016 - Nominibus Trivialibus, Sinonimis Selectis, MSU Botanical garden (Aptekarsky sad), Parallel program of the V Moscow international Biennale of young art, Moscow.
  • 2015 - Mirrors, MMOMA, Moscow.
  • 2015 - One in another. Art of new and old media in the era of high-speed Internet, MMOMA, Moscow.
  • 2015 - Development of freedom, Factory Project, Moscow.
  • 2013 - I wouldn't draw now, Parallel program of the 5th Moscow Biennale of contemporary art, Agency Art.Ru, Moscow.
  • 2013 - state Order, VINZAVOD center for contemporary art, Moscow.
  • 2012 - Project Cena (Price), Parallel program of the III Moscow international Biennale of young art, Agency Art.Ru, Moscow.
  • 2011 - Art in Mind, Brick lane Gallery, London.
  • 2010 - festival of contemporary art Psychonautics, Saint Petersburg.
  • 2010 - Summary, All Gallery, Saint Petersburg.

"My main task as an artist is to show how the body becomes a hybrid space in which the materiality of human flesh is linked to individual consciousness and identity. This is caused by a General desire to change yourself to avoid social pressure, as well as an even greater desire to discover your true form and inner authenticity.

In my work, I focus on the contradiction between what is considered real and what is subjective about the human body. I explore the social norms of stamped attractiveness that push us to Polish our own image, as people Polish billions of images on the Internet. There is an internal conflict between the natural features of our appearance imposed by artificial standards and our willingness to oppose them with absolute truth. This dynamic pushes me to explore the boundaries beyond which the body becomes as much an object as any other.

I often work with synthetic materials because they refer to my themes of physicality, moving from authenticity to art. My work emphasizes that body transformation is referential, archetypal, and tribal, and is now becoming a form of modern secular religion. This forces me to explore the boundaries beyond which the body eventually becomes the same object as any other.

I am currently studying the interaction of the human body and the environment, which I deeply feel is inextricably linked as one ecology, one synergistic Union. Humanity, and especially artists, can no longer turn a blind eye to this problem because of how acutely we have all begun to feel the impact of changes in Nature on all of us."
Maria Agureeva

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS:



Works


we are part of the circle
Agureeva Mariya

we are part of the circle, 2021

Shells, wood (burnt), pottery, hair, plastic
105 х 60 х 19 cm
Amber of the future
Agureeva Mariya

Amber of the future, 2021

Stones, shells, aluminum, hair, plastic
155 х 89 х 9 см
Untitled
Agureeva Mariya

Untitled, 2020

Plastic, burnt wood, aluminum, wood frame, mirror
21 х 29 х 3 cm
What Silence Hides
Agureeva Mariya

What Silence Hides, 2021

Plastic, shells, fossilized goneotite shell, macroflora (approximately 289 million years old), burnt wood, rocks
47,5 х 58

Akins Graham

Graham Akins is an artist who works with print, sculpture, video, and installation to address cultural and philosophical issues regarding nature as an abstract ideal, the hard problem of animals as other minds, the limits of human knowledge, and the aesthetics of representationalism within computer graphics and 3D scanning.

Graham Akins is an interdisciplinary artist who works with computer graphics and 3D scanning, sculpture, video, and installations, seeking to address cultural and philosophical questions concerning nature as an abstract ideal, the complex issue of animals as other minds, the limitations of human knowledge, and the aesthetics of representation within.

His work is based on both history and criticism of Western philosophy, new theories of ontology and ecology, the commodification of wildlife / animals, popular science fiction, and the artistic tradition of absurdism. Graham Akins was born in Texas and lives in Los Angeles, where he studied photography, media art, and German, and is currently a graduate student in the media arts Department at the University of California, Los Angeles.

The practice of the Graham Akins Studio revolves around our complex relationship to reality, simulation, and how technology mediates the image of the outside world. Using photography, video, 3D modeling, and sculpture, the artist creates large multimedia installations that play with the concepts of objectness, the sinister valley, our understanding of otherness, and modern image creation techniques.

Recent projects include research on the aestheticization of garbage, experimental wildlife documentaries that explore the quality of our relationships with other thoughts, and videos about sculptural objects that combine these abstract materials to imitate themselves.

EDUCATION

  • 2019 — Currently MFA Candidate in Design & Media Arts at UCLA.
  • 2016-2018 — Post Bachelorette at Pasadena City College.
  • 2003-2007 — BFA in Printmaking at Kansas City Art Institute.

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

  • 2019 — "Moebius loop" by a-s-t-r-a gallery, Spring/Break Art Show, new York
  • 2019 — Context Collapse UCLA New Wight Gallery | Los Angeles, California.
  • 2018 — Aggregate at UCLA Broad Art Center | Los Angeles, California.
  • 2018 — Y’all 20 at Amplify Arts | Omaha, NE.
  • 2017 — Brink at Self Help Graphics | Los Angeles, California.
  • 2015 — Back to Future 4 at Little Lodge Gallery | San Francisco, California.
  • 2007 — Earth & Ink at Dolphin Gallery | Kansas City, MO.

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

Hunzelweg Dima

Dima Hunzelweg was born in 1968 into a family of an artist, thus being introduced to the process of making art in early childhood, on an unconscious level. After acquiring formal artistic education in the 1980s, he intentionally breaks free from academic schooling and figurative approach.

Dima Hunzelweg was born in 1968 into a family of an artist, thus being introduced to the process of making art in early childhood, on an unconscious level. After acquiring formal artistic education in the 1980s, he intentionally breaks free from academic schooling and figurative approach.

Today, he considers himself a self-taught artist whose artistic method was fully formed in the early 2010s, after long-term periods of living, working, self-educating and exhibiting across the globe (including 16 years in New York and 3,5 years in Italy). Expanding the boundaries of art and media both literally and metaphorically, he creates unique wall objects blurring the distinction between painting and sculpture, between 2D and 3D dimensions. 

In the art of Dima Hunzelweg, the material quality of his works plays a pivotal role. Processing certain materials, which mostly come to his attention by pure accident – be it stainless still or neoprene, it serves as an infinite source of inspiration for the artist. Exploring the limits of perfecting each piece by chiseling away the superfluous material. Making a single artwork might take several weeks and months of meticulous and time-consuming preparation. 

As for the method, Dima Hunzelweg relies on geometry as a source of the clearest outlook. In this regard, his work can be viewed as a new step in a deep-rooted tradition of minimalist art and geometric abstraction. Still, paying such close attention to the physicality of each work does not turn them into simple decorative objects. Using geometry laws to achieve an ideal result, the artist tends to work with fairly simple symmetrical forms that are completely assertive in their visual impact. On the outside, cold math is often concealed behind the eye-catching and often skin-friendly surface, resulting in a mixture of inner perfectionism and outer sensual beauty.

In a constant quest for exploration, Dima Hunzelweg is often driven by his interest in scientific progress and recent research. Considering art as a non-stop and ever-evolving process, he thinks that accumulating data and knowledge leads to a more elaborate philosophy. Such an approach, when combined with the pursuance of simplicity and perfection leads to the unquestionable approachability of his art from the viewer’s point of view. Unique wall objects by Dima Hunzelweg are equally appealing in terms of form and accessible in terms of ideas. What’s more, they look equally relevant among museum-quality pieces by representatives of a number of artistic movements, be it concrete art, op art, or Russian Suprematism.

Artist currently lives and works in Moscow and Hamburg.

SELECTED GROUP SHOWS:

  • 2020 — ENTER Art Fair. Copenhagen, Denmark
  • 2019 — “Möbius Loop” by a-s-t-r-a gallery, Spring/Break Art Show, New York
    • 2019 — Duo show by a-s-t-r-a, CUBE Moscow
    • 2016 — 70ème Salon des Réalités Nouvelles, Paris, France
    • 2015 — La Biennale internationale d'art non objectif de Pont-de-Claix, Grenoble, France
    • 2015 — Museo Roberto Bilotti Ruggi d'Aragona, Calabria, Italy
    • 2011 — Art Festival No Translation 2, Moscow

    SOLO EXHIBITIONS:

    • 2013 — House at the Embankment, curated by Simon Mraz, Moscow
    • 2012 — Bluemetrix, site-specific installation, curated by Christina Steinbrecher-Phandt, CHA, Moscow
    • 2012 — Public art projects: Russian-Dutch public art project “Building 35 with artist Martin Scholte, Art-Ovrag New Culture Festival, Vyksa

    SELECTED PUBLICATIONS:



    Works


    Summer Solstice
    Hunzelweg Dima

    Summer Solstice, 2021

    biflex, wood, plywood
    Diameter 150 sm, depth 20 sm
    W/O_Neo/2_Ag/Hz
    Hunzelweg Dima

    W/O_Neo/2_Ag/Hz, 2020

    neoprene, plywood, acryl glass
    Diameter 755 mm, depth 383 mm
    日本 (Founded In 660 Bc)
    Hunzelweg Dima

    日本 (Founded In 660 Bc), 2021

    plywood, wood, biflex, hardboard
    Diameter 660 mm, depth 170 mm
    Neo-X
    Hunzelweg Dima

    Neo-X, 2020

    biflex, acryl glass, plastic, wood
    Diameter 225 mm, depth 177 mm
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