A Quiet Move. St. Petersburg's (un)obvious art scene

Curator: Katya Popova

Winzavod Art Center
4 Syromyatnichesky Lane, 1/8, building 9

28.03 - 15.04.2023

On March 28, a-s-t-r-a gallery opens the first group exhibition of the "center where I am" cycle, within the framework of which the gallery, together with invited curators, will show works by artists from various Russian cities (Nizhny Novgorod, Krasnodar, Ekaterinburg, Voronezh, Vladivostok, Ufa, Krasnoyarsk, and others) during 2023 - 2024.  

For a-s-t-r-a gallery the objective of this exhibition cycle is not only to introduce new names to Moscow collectors and the art community, but also to become a venue for the development of horizontal connections between the participants of the art processes in different cities. In addition to exhibitions of works, the cycle includes public talks, meetings and art tours for immersion into local art scenes.

In this regard, a-s-t-r-a announces an open-call among curators and artists. Send applications and project proposals to hello@a-s-t-r-a.com with the subject line "the center is where I am.

At the exhibition "Quiet Move. The (un)obvious art scene of St. Petersburg" will feature works by 14 artists: Natasha Khabarova, Ivan Nenashev, Ivan Shkulip, Wilgeny Melnikov, Sveta Isaeva, Ilya Ovsyannikov, Dmitry Margolin, Ekaterina Derevotok, Alexandrina Bransha, Pavel Bushuev, Nadezhda Kosinskaya, Ilya Shalashov, Alexander Koryashkin and Ivan Smirnov. 

"When ships enter the Neva fairway, they are greeted by the inscription 'Quiet Move' - a signal to slow down. The same thing happens to a person who enters St. Petersburg: everything begins to obey the laws and rhythms of the city.

At first you dive into its cultural scene, beginning with the Hermitage and the Mariinsky Theater, then you swim into the famous galleries and the musicAeterna concerts at the Radio House, but gradually you submerge into the antique shops hidden in the courtyard wells, grand mansions furnished with modern art, home galleries and mansard studios. This is where the real introduction to the city and its inhabitants begins.

The exhibition "Quiet Move" invites you to look at the not-so-obvious scene of St. Petersburg. The artists represented in it do not hurry to be highlighted, they feel comfortable to be behind the gray haze, not waiting for the fog to clear, but to be in it, not just to live in this rhythm, but to create it.

"A Quiet Move" is a meditative dive into a deeper layer of the St. Petersburg art scene, an invitation to get to know not only the object, but also the subject, to reflect not on the artist's statement, but more on yourself.

Choosing different media, be it shattered metal, clay, plaster, canvas, pencil, oil, the authors intuitively seek to streamline, slow down the course of thought and let it go with the work, living something of their own, giving life to the new art of St. Petersburg."

text by Katya Popova, curator of the Quiet Move exhibition