Andrei Molodkin
New Architecton

In order to generate interest in the nation's following cultural manifestations, the Russian historical avant-garde has grown to be a well-known brand. Kazimir Malevich's two iconic paintings were featured in Futurologia, an exhibition of contemporary Russian art organized by visiting French curator Hervé Mikaeloff held at Garage, Moscow in 2010.

In the room after Malevitch was standing a diptych by Andrei Molodkin. 2 sculptures reflecting each other in a positive-negative game. Utopia and Dystopia are facing each other with the representation of the iconic Russian National Foreign Affairs Minitry builiding filled with crude oil and argon gas in opposition.

The exhibition also includes hyperrealist paintings of coal miners by Ilya Gaponov and Kirill Koteshov and hermetic, dance-inspired videos by Viktor Alimpiev. Mikaeloff suggests that those more contemporary painters look to the future with the same intent as Malevich. Extending on this concept is "Utopias," a show at the Garage: Center for Contemporary Culture in Moscow. Although it's doubtful that each show will establish a clear connection between a visionary wanting to alter the future and the countless artists satisfied to fantasize about doing so, the effort promises to be fruitful.

This is first large scale project made with Andrei Molodkin. We had to develop numerous new fabrication techniques as all elements of the 2 sculptures are custom designed and produced, from the steel structure, the polycarbonate tubes and hangings to the electronics and lighting devices. All technologies developped for New Architecton led the path to future artworks like Transformer No.M208.