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Main Collection

Private gift

Poet and Pistol is one of Gor Chahal’s earliest works and comprises photographs made by Andrei Bezukladnikov, collages, painting, and poems. Addressing himself to the binomial “artist‑personality,” who was an important element of the conceptual art of the 1970s, he is transformed into a romantic decadent poet and depicts him in the monochrome style of noir or the filmmakers of the “new wave.” Using curly hair, white shirt, tie and black jacket Chahal aestheticizes the life of his lyrical hero, contrasting it to Soviet reality and that of the Perestroika period. He brings together contradictions — life and death, abstraction and reality, invention and fact — in a single series without a defined narrative, anticipating the consciousness of the video clip. The handsome dandy wanders Moscow’s boulevards, gateways, and hotels in attempt to find a victim or escape the uncertainty of death, and life goes on in the background: mothers with prams, passers‑by on benches. He is a superfluous person, an aesthetically alien element who is out of time and place. This is how Gor Chahal visualizes the poetic metaphor of his art, which was marginal in the Perestoika period and unable to catch up with rapidly changing reality.

 Poet and Pistol is one of Gor Chahal’s earliest works and comprises photographs made by Andrei Bezukladnikov, collages, painting, and poems. Addressing himself to the binomial “artist‑personality,” who was an important element of the conceptual art of the 1970s, he is transformed into a romantic decadent poet and depicts him in the monochrome style of noir or the filmmakers of the “new wave.” Using curly hair, white shirt, tie and black jacket Chahal aestheticizes the life of his lyrical hero, contrasting it to Soviet reality and that of the Perestroika period. He brings together contradictions — life and death, abstraction and reality, invention and fact — in a single series without a defined narrative, anticipating the consciousness of the video clip. The handsome dandy wanders Moscow’s boulevards, gateways, and hotels in attempt to find a victim or escape the uncertainty of death, and life goes on in the background: mothers with prams, passers‑by on benches. He is a superfluous person, an aesthetically alien element who is out of time and place. This is how Gor Chahal visualizes the poetic metaphor of his art, which was marginal in the Perestoika period and unable to catch up with rapidly changing reality. 

Poet and Pistol

The ironic painting I Love Jules Verne’s America dates to the period of his close friendship and cooperation with the art group World Champions. At that time the artists shared a studio and also conceived and performed joint actions which were absurd and spontaneous. They made fun of the intellectual practices of the older generation of Moscow Conceptualists and of Soviet state institutions that used outdated rituals and language. 

 I Love Jules Verne’s America was acquired from the studio by collector Pierre Brochet. The inscription which is the title of the painting is a categorical criticism of the contemporary United States and states that the artist considers nineteenth‑century America a much more attractive place than the capitalist version of the Ronald Reagan years. The small Polaroid at the center of the painting is a distorted portrait of Gor Chahal in a park. In the late 1980s, the artist frequently experimented with instant photography and the idea of lack of subjectivity, which may be precursors of his later interest in automated techniques.

 The ironic painting I Love Jules Verne’s America dates to the period of his close friendship and cooperation with the art group World Champions. At that time the artists shared a studio and also conceived and performed joint actions which were absurd and spontaneous. They made fun of the intellectual practices of the older generation of Moscow Conceptualists and of Soviet state institutions that used outdated rituals and language. 

 I Love Jules Verne’s America was acquired from the studio by collector Pierre Brochet. The inscription which is the title of the painting is a categorical criticism of the contemporary United States and states that the artist considers nineteenth‑century America a much more attractive place than the capitalist version of the Ronald Reagan years. The small Polaroid at the center of the painting is a distorted portrait of Gor Chahal in a park. In the late 1980s, the artist frequently experimented with instant photography and the idea of lack of subjectivity, which may be precursors of his later interest in automated techniques. 

I Love Jules Verne’s America

Poet and Pistol is one of Gor Chahal’s earliest works and comprises photographs made by Andrei Bezukladnikov, collages, painting, and poems. Addressing himself to the binomial “artist‑personality,” who was an important element of the conceptual art of the 1970s, he is transformed into a romantic decadent poet and depicts him in the monochrome style of noir or the filmmakers of the “new wave.” Using curly hair, white shirt, tie and black jacket Chahal aestheticizes the life of his lyrical hero, contrasting it to Soviet reality and that of the Perestroika period. He brings together contradictions — life and death, abstraction and reality, invention and fact‑in a single series without a defined narrative, anticipating the consciousness of the video clip. The handsome dandy wanders Moscow’s boulevards, gateways, and hotels in attempt to find a victim or escape the uncertainty of death, and life goes on in the background: mothers with prams, passers‑by on benches. He is a superfluous person, an aesthetically alien element who is out of time and place. This is how Gor Chahal visualizes the poetic metaphor of his art, which was marginal in the Perestoika period and unable to catch up with rapidly changing reality.

 Poet and Pistol is one of Gor Chahal’s earliest works and comprises photographs made by Andrei Bezukladnikov, collages, painting, and poems. Addressing himself to the binomial “artist‑personality,” who was an important element of the conceptual art of the 1970s, he is transformed into a romantic decadent poet and depicts him in the monochrome style of noir or the filmmakers of the “new wave.” Using curly hair, white shirt, tie and black jacket Chahal aestheticizes the life of his lyrical hero, contrasting it to Soviet reality and that of the Perestroika period. He brings together contradictions — life and death, abstraction and reality, invention and fact‑in a single series without a defined narrative, anticipating the consciousness of the video clip. The handsome dandy wanders Moscow’s boulevards, gateways, and hotels in attempt to find a victim or escape the uncertainty of death, and life goes on in the background: mothers with prams, passers‑by on benches. He is a superfluous person, an aesthetically alien element who is out of time and place. This is how Gor Chahal visualizes the poetic metaphor of his art, which was marginal in the Perestoika period and unable to catch up with rapidly changing reality. 

Untitled

In 1986, four friends decided to form an art group called World Champions. Despite its short life (the group disbanded in 1988), World Champions was one of the most striking artistic phenomena of the perestroika period. The backbone of the group comprised Gia Abramishvili, Konstantin Latyshev, Boris Matrosov and Andrei Yakhnin. They studied together at Moscow’s School No. 96 in Bolshoi Tishinsky Pereulok, where they were taught physics by a very special man, Evgeny Matusov. He organized meetings with interesting people for his students, including Boris Grebenshchikov, Sven Gundlakh, and Konstantin Zvezdochotov. Contact with these people grew into friendship and then joint artistic practice. 

 The “champions” selected irony as their main tool for dissecting both late‑1980s Soviet reality and the specific, closed world of unofficial art. They made fun of the unintelligible practices of the older generation of Moscow conceptualists and of state sport and public organizations, with their outdated methods of transforming groups of individuals into collectives. The group’s actions and demonstrations had an absurd and spontaneous character in which a sudden idea of a “meaningless feat” was immediately embodied, erasing the boundaries between art and life. The artists changed the direction of rivers, used shampoo and rags to clean the Black Sea cliffs and seafront, and created pictures and objects from worthless materials, with no interest in preserving them after they had been shown at a one‑day exhibition. 

 When creating drawings and paintings the “champions” parodied the team method of making state commissions for artistic products. Participants published a decree that defined in detail not only the image but also the quantity of materials available to the artist who would make it. The group’s garish, flashy paintings are stylistically similar to children’s drawings and lubok folk prints, comics, and posters.

 In 1986, four friends decided to form an art group called World Champions. Despite its short life (the group disbanded in 1988), World Champions was one of the most striking artistic phenomena of the perestroika period. The backbone of the group comprised Gia Abramishvili, Konstantin Latyshev, Boris Matrosov and Andrei Yakhnin. They studied together at Moscow’s School No. 96 in Bolshoi Tishinsky Pereulok, where they were taught physics by a very special man, Evgeny Matusov. He organized meetings with interesting people for his students, including Boris Grebenshchikov, Sven Gundlakh, and Konstantin Zvezdochotov. Contact with these people grew into friendship and then joint artistic practice. 

 The “champions” selected irony as their main tool for dissecting both late‑1980s Soviet reality and the specific, closed world of unofficial art. They made fun of the unintelligible practices of the older generation of Moscow conceptualists and of state sport and public organizations, with their outdated methods of transforming groups of individuals into collectives. The group’s actions and demonstrations had an absurd and spontaneous character in which a sudden idea of a “meaningless feat” was immediately embodied, erasing the boundaries between art and life. The artists changed the direction of rivers, used shampoo and rags to clean the Black Sea cliffs and seafront, and created pictures and objects from worthless materials, with no interest in preserving them after they had been shown at a one‑day exhibition. 

 When creating drawings and paintings the “champions” parodied the team method of making state commissions for artistic products. Participants published a decree that defined in detail not only the image but also the quantity of materials available to the artist who would make it. The group’s garish, flashy paintings are stylistically similar to children’s drawings and lubok folk prints, comics, and posters. 

Wood. Potassium Permanganate

Гор Чахал — математик по образованию, автор стихов и музыкально‑поэтических перформансов, один из пионеров мультимедийного искусства в России. В конце 1980‑х — начале 1990‑х был участником московской арт- и рок‑сцены. Основал перформанс‑группы «Параллельные действия» (1985–1987) и «Театрпост» (1987–1988); осуществил серию акций совместно с группой «Чемпионы мира» (1988). В 1989 году исполнил главную роль в фильме Олега Тепцова «Посвященный». В 1990 состоялась первая персональная выставка Чахала в Первой галерее (Москва). В 1995–1996 году был стипендиатом берлинской Академии художеств, а в 2004‑м — MuseumsQuartier в Вене. С конца 1990‑х Гор Чахал исследует христианскую тематику, объединяя современное искусство, научные методы и богословский дискурс. В 2014 году стал почетным членом Российской Академии Художеств, в 2022‑м — членом‑корреспондентом отделения новейших художественных течений РАХ.
Гор Чахал, как отмечает Виктор Мизиано, принадлежит к первому постконцептуалистскому поколению московских художников, которому довелось приступить к работе в условиях распада модернистского советского общества. Диагностика этого нового социального контекста определялась ранними акциями Чахала, созданными им в 1988 году совместно с группой «Чемпионы мира». Представленные работы из цикла «Иллюзионизм в искусстве» выполнены в те же годы и образуют серию «Удары» (1989). Все пять «объектов» имеют характерные вмятины (выпуклости) на поверхности, как будто нечто скрытое и непостижимое стремится прорваться наружу.
Эти работы можно интерпретировать как предчувствие грядущих изменений, геополитических потрясений и распада Советского Союза, а также тех глобальных процессов, которые захватывали общество и культуру с небывалой скоростью. Ключевая идея цикла «Иллюзионизм в искусстве» заключается в размышлении о скрытых опасностях, тревоге и манипулятивных процессах, которые можно наблюдать, но невозможно объяснить.

Гор Чахал — математик по образованию, автор стихов и музыкально‑поэтических перформансов, один из пионеров мультимедийного искусства в России. В конце 1980‑х — начале 1990‑х был участником московской арт- и рок‑сцены. Основал перформанс‑группы «Параллельные действия» (1985–1987) и «Театрпост» (1987–1988); осуществил серию акций совместно с группой «Чемпионы мира» (1988). В 1989 году исполнил главную роль в фильме Олега Тепцова «Посвященный». В 1990 состоялась первая персональная выставка Чахала в Первой галерее (Москва). В 1995–1996 году был стипендиатом берлинской Академии художеств, а в 2004‑м — MuseumsQuartier в Вене. С конца 1990‑х Гор Чахал исследует христианскую тематику, объединяя современное искусство, научные методы и богословский дискурс. В 2014 году стал почетным членом Российской Академии Художеств, в 2022‑м — членом‑корреспондентом отделения новейших художественных течений РАХ.
Гор Чахал, как отмечает Виктор Мизиано, принадлежит к первому постконцептуалистскому поколению московских художников, которому довелось приступить к работе в условиях распада модернистского советского общества. Диагностика этого нового социального контекста определялась ранними акциями Чахала, созданными им в 1988 году совместно с группой «Чемпионы мира». Представленные работы из цикла «Иллюзионизм в искусстве» выполнены в те же годы и образуют серию «Удары» (1989). Все пять «объектов» имеют характерные вмятины (выпуклости) на поверхности, как будто нечто скрытое и непостижимое стремится прорваться наружу.
Эти работы можно интерпретировать как предчувствие грядущих изменений, геополитических потрясений и распада Советского Союза, а также тех глобальных процессов, которые захватывали общество и культуру с небывалой скоростью. Ключевая идея цикла «Иллюзионизм в искусстве» заключается в размышлении о скрытых опасностях, тревоге и манипулятивных процессах, которые можно наблюдать, но невозможно объяснить.

Айболит-666. «Удары»

5 частей 9,2 × 15 × 3,5 см (каждая)

From the project Poet and Pistol

The project For Cultural Leisure (1990–1992), of which the painting Self‑Portrait (1992) is part, was partly shown at the eponymous group exhibition at the Kashirka Exhibition Hall in 1990. The exhibition was a rethinking of the concept of leisure, inactivity, and freedom within sets and impressions that were familiar to a Soviet person. 

 In this series Gor Chahal continued to develop the idea of the “artist‑personality,” which he began with the series Poet and Pistol (1990) and borrowed from Soviet conceptual art of the 1970s. In Self‑Portrait Chahal’s subject is presented as a demonically handsome man at rest, with tousled hair, a white shirt with rolled‑up sleeves, Dva Myacha brand trainers, and a relaxed pose. 

 Through the aestheticization of his everyday behavior Chahal refers to visual performance and records social rituals, breaking them down until they are unrecognizable. His works anticipate the consciousness of the video clip, reflecting the fragmentary nature of the perception of reality. The combination of various techniques‑cinematographic photographs, painting, readymades (sledges, ties, a pile of books), collages‑is constructed on a symbolic duality. The abstract is contrasted with the realistic, color with black‑and‑white, the material with the imaginary. Chahal uses the Dadaist practice of destroying the canon, creating a new irrational collage from the chaotic, slippery reality of the era of perestroika.

 The project For Cultural Leisure (1990–1992), of which the painting Self‑Portrait (1992) is part, was partly shown at the eponymous group exhibition at the Kashirka Exhibition Hall in 1990. The exhibition was a rethinking of the concept of leisure, inactivity, and freedom within sets and impressions that were familiar to a Soviet person. 

 In this series Gor Chahal continued to develop the idea of the “artist‑personality,” which he began with the series Poet and Pistol (1990) and borrowed from Soviet conceptual art of the 1970s. In Self‑Portrait Chahal’s subject is presented as a demonically handsome man at rest, with tousled hair, a white shirt with rolled‑up sleeves, Dva Myacha brand trainers, and a relaxed pose. 

 Through the aestheticization of his everyday behavior Chahal refers to visual performance and records social rituals, breaking them down until they are unrecognizable. His works anticipate the consciousness of the video clip, reflecting the fragmentary nature of the perception of reality. The combination of various techniques‑cinematographic photographs, painting, readymades (sledges, ties, a pile of books), collages‑is constructed on a symbolic duality. The abstract is contrasted with the realistic, color with black‑and‑white, the material with the imaginary. Chahal uses the Dadaist practice of destroying the canon, creating a new irrational collage from the chaotic, slippery reality of the era of perestroika. 

Self-Portrait

1. Открытый доступ

Мастер

World Champions was a Moscow art group made up of a group of friends who had studied at School No. 98 and Krasnopresnenskaya Art School. The group included Gia Abramishvili, Konstantin Zvezdochotov, Konstantin Latyshev, Boris Matrosov, Andrei Yakhnin, and others. In 2021 there was a retrospective exhibition of the group’s work at Moscow Museum of Modern Art.

World Champions

Gor Chahal is a mathematician by training, the author of poems and musical‑poetic performances, and one of the pioneers of multimedia art in Russia. In the late 1980s and early 1990s he was a member of Moscow’s art underground and rock scene. He was the founder of the performance groups Parallel Actions (1985–1987) and Theaterpost (1987–1988) and performed a series of actions with the art group World Champions (1988). In 1989, he played the lead role in Oleg Teptsov’s film The Initiated. In 1990, his debut solo exhibition took place at First Gallery (Moscow). In 1995 and 1996, he was a scholarship holder at the Berlin Academy of Arts and in 2004 at the Museum Quarter in Vienna. Since the late 1990s he has explored Christian themes, combining contemporary art, scientific methods, and theological discourse. In 2014, he became an honorary member of the Russian Academy of Arts and in 2022 a corresponding member of the Academy’s Department of New Art Trends.

Chahal Gor

Boris Matrosov was born in Moscow. From 1986 to 1988 he was a member of World Champions and from 1988 Honorary Chair of the Avantgardists’ Club (KLAVA). He has been a member of the Moscow Union of Artists since 1994.

Matrosov Boris

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