Main Collection

Garage Museum of Contemporary Art archive

Acquired from the artist

Gift of Anton Belov

The eclectic, colorful, and absurd art of Irina Korina emerges from the simplest materials and things that are transformed into carnival‑like scenery of everyday life. A theater designer by training, Korina works as a spatial artist, forming and conceptualizing environments. Her installations are distinguished by a constructed dramaturgy, often including psychological intrigue. 

 Green Snowflake and Red Snowflake are part of the project Humiliated and Elated, shown at XL Gallery in 2016. The installation consisted of two parts. Psychedelic works on paper were mounted under glass on metal holders placed under illuminated lampshade‑like fringed canopies. Each sheet reproduced out‑of‑context clichéd phrases: “But for some reason I can't,” “Everything is wrong,” “But no...,” “Probably the day after tomorrow,” “I'll become a zero,” “Well, it's probably too much,” “Like in a film,” and so on. The symbol of the project was the phrase “Fatalism + Cynicism” and an image of two swans. Giant dreamcatchers, garlands, metal snowflakes, and other festive decorations hung from the ceiling. By capturing these incongruous afterthoughts of the society of spectacle, Korina exposes the cultural memory of the collective unconscious. The large metal snowflake becomes a heavyweight phantom of a childhood memory left in the distant past.

 The eclectic, colorful, and absurd art of Irina Korina emerges from the simplest materials and things that are transformed into carnival‑like scenery of everyday life. A theater designer by training, Korina works as a spatial artist, forming and conceptualizing environments. Her installations are distinguished by a constructed dramaturgy, often including psychological intrigue. 

 Green Snowflake and Red Snowflake are part of the project Humiliated and Elated, shown at XL Gallery in 2016. The installation consisted of two parts. Psychedelic works on paper were mounted under glass on metal holders placed under illuminated lampshade‑like fringed canopies. Each sheet reproduced out‑of‑context clichéd phrases: “But for some reason I can't,” “Everything is wrong,” “But no...,” “Probably the day after tomorrow,” “I'll become a zero,” “Well, it's probably too much,” “Like in a film,” and so on. The symbol of the project was the phrase “Fatalism + Cynicism” and an image of two swans. Giant dreamcatchers, garlands, metal snowflakes, and other festive decorations hung from the ceiling. By capturing these incongruous afterthoughts of the society of spectacle, Korina exposes the cultural memory of the collective unconscious. The large metal snowflake becomes a heavyweight phantom of a childhood memory left in the distant past. 

Red Snowflake

Olga Deryugina’s book is a research project on the subject of safety. Drawing on the works of Pascal Gielen, Siegfried Zielinski, and other scholars, the artist traced the evolution of the concept of safety from antiquity to the present. Her references were purchased by the Museum and made available in Garage Library. 

 There are few of the artist’s own texts in the book. The majority of the content comprises quotes from academic sources. “I based the idea on Roland Barthes’ books The Neutral: Lecture Course at the College de France 1977–1978 (2002) and How to Live Together: Novelistic Simulations of Some Everyday Spaces (2002), which are, strictly speaking, notes from lectures,” the artist explains. “I thought that this format, which is fact‑filled and encourages multiple readings, representing the author’s thinking but not foregrounding it, most suited my ideas.” 

 The text material is supplemented with digital drawings that reference the aesthetic of safety instructions, something that surrounds people today. The book is made using digital printing and bound with a metal staple. 

 The book was created as part of the Garage Library project Single Copy.

 Olga Deryugina’s book is a research project on the subject of safety. Drawing on the works of Pascal Gielen, Siegfried Zielinski, and other scholars, the artist traced the evolution of the concept of safety from antiquity to the present. Her references were purchased by the Museum and made available in Garage Library.  

 There are few of the artist’s own texts in the book. The majority of the content comprises quotes from academic sources. “I based the idea on Roland Barthes’ books The Neutral: Lecture Course at the College de France 1977–1978 (2002) and How to Live Together: Novelistic Simulations of Some Everyday Spaces (2002), which are, strictly speaking, notes from lectures,” the artist explains. “I thought that this format, which is fact‑filled and encourages multiple readings, representing the author’s thinking but not foregrounding it, most suited my ideas.”  

 The text material is supplemented with digital drawings that reference the aesthetic of safety instructions, something that surrounds people today. The book is made using digital printing and bound with a metal staple.  

 The book was created as part of the Garage Library project Single Copy. 

Safety Check

Anna Tereshkina’s artistic practice is defined by interdisciplinarity, multiple genres, and cooperation with other people from various spheres. She explores the themes of gender research, personal and collective memory, protection of human rights, and social critique.

A Book for Girls demonstrates the strategy of rethinking traditional gender stereotypes. Using a found 1991 encyclopedia of domestic science, For You, Girls!, which teaches “how to look after the home, be tidy, healthy, and dexterous,” Tereshkina incorporates rebellious drawings, collages, and everyday artifacts, such as sweet wrappers, tickets, and magazine cuttings, thus disrupting the normative content of the book.

The texts and illustrations about keeping house are in dialogue with visual elements that are provocative, absurd, ironic, chaotic, and childishly expressive. The artist makes fun of or ignores the imposed female roles, turning the book into a feminist statement that is in opposition to fixed models of education.

Anna Tereshkina’s artistic practice is defined by interdisciplinarity, multiple genres, and cooperation with other people from various spheres. She explores the themes of gender research, personal and collective memory, protection of human rights, and social critique.

A Book for Girls demonstrates the strategy of rethinking traditional gender stereotypes. Using a found 1991 encyclopedia of domestic science, For You, Girls!, which teaches “how to look after the home, be tidy, healthy, and dexterous,” Tereshkina incorporates rebellious drawings, collages, and everyday artifacts, such as sweet wrappers, tickets, and magazine cuttings, thus disrupting the normative content of the book.

The texts and illustrations about keeping house are in dialogue with visual elements that are provocative, absurd, ironic, chaotic, and childishly expressive. The artist makes fun of or ignores the imposed female roles, turning the book into a feminist statement that is in opposition to fixed models of education.

A Book for Girls

Aidan Salakhova is a sculptor and graduate of the Surikov Moscow State Art Institute who participated in the 44th and 54th Venice Biennale (1990, 2011). Her interests include exploring the fragile boundaries of women's freedom, gender and social identities, searching for answers through religious and traditionalist symbolism, and posing questions concerning the desirable and the forbidden. 

 Her debut as an artist took place at the XVIII Exhibition of Young Moscow Artists at the Manezh Central Exhibition Hall in 1988 with the triptych Steel Orgasm on an Orange Background (1987). A year later Salakhova, together with Yevgeny Mitta and Alexander Yakut, opened First Gallery and then, in 1992, Aidan Gallery, which existed for twenty years and became one of the most important venues on the Moscow art scene. In 2012, she established Aidan Studio, bringing together over thirty artists who graduated from Salakhova's studio at the Surikov Moscow State Art Institute, which the artist led from 2001 to 2022. Since the 2010s, she has spent most of her time living and working in Carrara, Italy, studying the plastic possibilities of the most famous marble on the planet. 

 In 2019, artist and theater producer Pavel Kaplevich invited Salakhova to design director Maxim Didenko's production Carmen. Drama‑Opera‑Ballet. The artist proposed a set comprising ornamental red cocoons from which the performers emerged and in which they hid. Salakhova embodied in these objects one of her main principles, the animation of sculpture, because for the artist her marble sculptures are always the receptacle of the soul.

 Aidan Salakhova is a sculptor and graduate of the Surikov Moscow State Art Institute who participated in the 44th and 54th Venice Biennale (1990, 2011). Her interests include exploring the fragile boundaries of women's freedom, gender and social identities, searching for answers through religious and traditionalist symbolism, and posing questions concerning the desirable and the forbidden. 

 Her debut as an artist took place at the XVIII Exhibition of Young Moscow Artists at the Manezh Central Exhibition Hall in 1988 with the triptych Steel Orgasm on an Orange Background (1987). A year later Salakhova, together with Yevgeny Mitta and Alexander Yakut, opened First Gallery and then, in 1992, Aidan Gallery, which existed for twenty years and became one of the most important venues on the Moscow art scene. In 2012, she established Aidan Studio, bringing together over thirty artists who graduated from Salakhova's studio at the Surikov Moscow State Art Institute, which the artist led from 2001 to 2022. Since the 2010s, she has spent most of her time living and working in Carrara, Italy, studying the plastic possibilities of the most famous marble on the planet. 

 In 2019, artist and theater producer Pavel Kaplevich invited Salakhova to design director Maxim Didenko's production Carmen. Drama‑Opera‑Ballet. The artist proposed a set comprising ornamental red cocoons from which the performers emerged and in which they hid. Salakhova embodied in these objects one of her main principles, the animation of sculpture, because for the artist her marble sculptures are always the receptacle of the soul. 

Sketches for a production of Carmen

Alexey Parygin’s practice encompasses a wide range of media, from painting and drawing to sculpture and installation, but the artist’s book occupies a special place within it. In the late 1980s, Parygin made his first artist’s books (Sand, Colored Sounds, The Green Book), in which illustrations were combined with a poetic text in line with a tradition leading back to William Blake. These early works are unique objects made by hand: from the cover and illustrations, which use batik and colored collage, to the text, which is typed on colored copying paper. By the mid‑1990s the verbal component had lost its role, giving way to purely visual expression. Parygin explores the sign, color, and form, turning the book into an object of contemplation where the accent is on emotional perception and plastic expression.

The basis of Eclipse is a chapter from a physics textbook that covers the mechanics of wave movement. Parygin transforms the scientific text into a visual experiment, covering the pages with abstract compositions or circles and horizontal and vertical lines using aerosol paint and stencils. Black and red, which dominate, create a dynamic contrast referencing the theme of an eclipse, both visual and semantic. The book features numerous mathematical formulae, which show through rhythmically repeated, simple geometric elements, and becomes a field for the interaction of order and chaos, knowledge and intuition.

Alexey Parygin’s practice encompasses a wide range of media, from painting and drawing to sculpture and installation, but the artist’s book occupies a special place within it. In the late 1980s, Parygin made his first artist’s books (Sand, Colored Sounds, The Green Book), in which illustrations were combined with a poetic text in line with a tradition leading back to William Blake. These early works are unique objects made by hand: from the cover and illustrations, which use batik and colored collage, to the text, which is typed on colored copying paper. By the mid‑1990s the verbal component had lost its role, giving way to purely visual expression. Parygin explores the sign, color, and form, turning the book into an object of contemplation where the accent is on emotional perception and plastic expression.

The basis of Eclipse is a chapter from a physics textbook that covers the mechanics of wave movement. Parygin transforms the scientific text into a visual experiment, covering the pages with abstract compositions or circles and horizontal and vertical lines using aerosol paint and stencils. Black and red, which dominate, create a dynamic contrast referencing the theme of an eclipse, both visual and semantic. The book features numerous mathematical formulae, which show through rhythmically repeated, simple geometric elements, and becomes a field for the interaction of order and chaos, knowledge and intuition.

Eclipse

Valery Korchagin’s artistic method can be described as research based. He works with cultural memory, archetypes, and mythology, using a wide range of materials and techniques. His works, whether drawings, objects or installations, are often reminiscent of archeological finds where layers of visual elements form complex structures full of hidden meanings. The artist’s book occupies a key place in Korchagin’s oeuvre, and he extends it beyond the traditional format. For example, Book Bomb (2014) includes not only illustrations and text but real wires with a light bulb and a wobble toy, transforming the book into an interactive object. Korchagin avoids direct statements, preferring to create works that exist as personal testimony, combining handmadeness and elements of readymades.

The History of Geological Exploration Expedition 67/67, 1948–1949 is a striking example of the transformation of the documentary form into artistic expression. The book is reminiscent of a technical report, full of figures and terms. The illustrations, which include portraits of expedition participants, maps of locations, drawings of plants and precious stones, and depictions of measuring instruments such as the circumferentor or dynamometer, create an illusion of scientific accuracy that is gradually destroyed.
The Syumkev Massif becomes the location of a tragicomic drama: a group of geologists finds the corpse of an unknown person, depicted using a single detail‑a pair of boots‑after which the expedition participants begin to go crazy and die. Korchagin creates a philosophical reflection on the nature of reality, time, and human experience in which the documentary approach becomes an absurd mystification and the scientific report a parable of the futility of seeking meaning in chaos.

Valery Korchagin’s artistic method can be described as research based. He works with cultural memory, archetypes, and mythology, using a wide range of materials and techniques. His works, whether drawings, objects or installations, are often reminiscent of archeological finds where layers of visual elements form complex structures full of hidden meanings. The artist’s book occupies a key place in Korchagin’s oeuvre, and he extends it beyond the traditional format. For example, Book Bomb (2014) includes not only illustrations and text but real wires with a light bulb and a wobble toy, transforming the book into an interactive object. Korchagin avoids direct statements, preferring to create works that exist as personal testimony, combining handmadeness and elements of readymades.

The History of Geological Exploration Expedition 67/67, 1948–1949 is a striking example of the transformation of the documentary form into artistic expression. The book is reminiscent of a technical report, full of figures and terms. The illustrations, which include portraits of expedition participants, maps of locations, drawings of plants and precious stones, and depictions of measuring instruments such as the circumferentor or dynamometer, create an illusion of scientific accuracy that is gradually destroyed.
The Syumkev Massif becomes the location of a tragicomic drama: a group of geologists finds the corpse of an unknown person, depicted using a single detail‑a pair of boots‑after which the expedition participants begin to go crazy and die. Korchagin creates a philosophical reflection on the nature of reality, time, and human experience in which the documentary approach becomes an absurd mystification and the scientific report a parable of the futility of seeking meaning in chaos.

The History of Geological Exploration Expedition 67/67, 1948–1949

Andrey Olenev is known for his work in the fields of painting and public art. His early works, including murals in the center of Nizhny Novgorod, often explored themes of freedom, the internal world, and the link between humans and the environment. Olenev has been developing an artist’s book genre in which atypical forms become an integral part of the narrative. 

 In the work Untitled, A Novella the artist transforms both the visual and tactile structure. This time, referencing the notebook form, he uses photographic printing on stretched Kraft paper sheets, fixing them to a painted wooden board with a leather spine. 

 The dramaturgy of the book is constructed around symbolic images, including personal and universal motifs that reference philosophical musings on the microcosm. Beginning on the second page, the barely readable handwritten text is displaced by watercolor illustrations which grow in size, with the handwriting becoming increasingly illegible. The novella concludes with a depiction of a face concealed in a tree trunk, a symbol of the archaic connection between humans and nature.

 Andrey Olenev is known for his work in the fields of painting and public art. His early works, including murals in the center of Nizhny Novgorod, often explored themes of freedom, the internal world, and the link between humans and the environment. Olenev has been developing an artist’s book genre in which atypical forms become an integral part of the narrative.  

 In the work Untitled, A Novella the artist transforms both the visual and tactile structure. This time, referencing the notebook form, he uses photographic printing on stretched Kraft paper sheets, fixing them to a painted wooden board with a leather spine.  

 The dramaturgy of the book is constructed around symbolic images, including personal and universal motifs that reference philosophical musings on the microcosm. Beginning on the second page, the barely readable handwritten text is displaced by watercolor illustrations which grow in size, with the handwriting becoming increasingly illegible. The novella concludes with a depiction of a face concealed in a tree trunk, a symbol of the archaic connection between humans and nature. 

Untitled, A Novella

The character in this leporello, as in a number of other projects by the artist is Gertrude Savage, a hybrid of a superhero and someone from a lubok print. Gertrude’s main weapons are a mighty plait (of hair) and magic gloves made from birch bark. A pack of young men with dog heads are her faithful servants, and her feats include victory over giant mutant catfish, saving parachutists from the horrors of their professional holiday, and pacifying the raging Moscow River. 

 The book is a graphic story with rare text inserts. Podkorytova makes active use of urban folklore and plays with gender roles, turning existing stereotypes inside out. The leporello is almost six meters long and is illustrated on both sides with India ink and watercolor. 

 The book was created as part of the Garage Library project Single Copy.

 The character in this leporello, as in a number of other projects by the artist is Gertrude Savage, a hybrid of a superhero and someone from a lubok print. Gertrude’s main weapons are a mighty plait (of hair) and magic gloves made from birch bark. A pack of young men with dog heads are her faithful servants, and her feats include victory over giant mutant catfish, saving parachutists from the horrors of their professional holiday, and pacifying the raging Moscow River. 

 The book is a graphic story with rare text inserts. Podkorytova makes active use of urban folklore and plays with gender roles, turning existing stereotypes inside out. The leporello is almost six meters long and is illustrated on both sides with India ink and watercolor. 

 The book was created as part of the Garage Library project Single Copy. 

Gertrude Savage and the Moscow River

Fjord is a multilayered compilation of works by Baronina in which the originals are mixed with reproductions of other projects that are intertwined and reproduced in various media. The book comprises several chapters, and through them the reader makes a symbolic journey through the elements of air, earth, and water. 

 Fjord is a hotel in Montenegro that has been abandoned. The building, like the geographical feature which gives it its name, has become a formative metaphor for the visual narrative constructed by the artist. 

 Each page of the book is made of several layers of paper and card stuck together, with reproductions of Baronina’s works glued on top. The pages are arranged within the cover of a volume of Gogol’s collected works published in 1956. 

 The book was created as part of the Garage Library project Single Copy.

 Fjord is a multilayered compilation of works by Baronina in which the originals are mixed with reproductions of other projects that are intertwined and reproduced in various media. The book comprises several chapters, and through them the reader makes a symbolic journey through the elements of air, earth, and water. 

 Fjord is a hotel in Montenegro that has been abandoned. The building, like the geographical feature which gives it its name, has become a formative metaphor for the visual narrative constructed by the artist. 

 Each page of the book is made of several layers of paper and card stuck together, with reproductions of Baronina’s works glued on top. The pages are arranged within the cover of a volume of Gogol’s collected works published in 1956. 

 The book was created as part of the Garage Library project Single Copy. 

Fjord

1. Открытый доступ

Мастер

Lyudmila Baronina was born in Szczecinek (Poland). She graduated from the easel painting section of the Academy of Art and Industry of Krasnodar State University of Culture and Arts (2013) and has a Master’s degree from the Art Faculty of Kuban State University (2015). In 2016, she studied at Krasnodar Institute of Contemporary Art. She has had solo exhibitions at HERE on Taganka Gallery (Moscow), ART4.ru Contemporary Art Museum (Moscow), and Vladimir Smirnov and Konstantin Sorokin Foundation (Moscow). She was awarded a special prize at the 6th competition for young artists New Projects for Anna Nova Art Gallery (2017).

Baronina Lyudmila

Andrey Olenev was born in Nizhny Novgorod. He is a member of the informal art association Muddlehood and co‑founder of Tolk Gallery. He participated in the publishing project of the 5th Ural Industrial Biennial of Contemporary Art (2019), the art residency of the 6th Ural Industrial Biennial of Contemporary Art (2021), and the exhibitions Fresh Layer (Arsenal, Nizhny Novgorod; PERMM Museum of Contemporary Art, Perm, 2017), Life of the Living (National Center for Contemporary Arts, Moscow, 2017), Tragedy in the Corner (Museum of Moscow, 2018), and Unnamed. Selected Works from the Collection of Moscow Museum of Modern Art (Arsenal, Nizhny Novgorod, 2021). He is a resident artist at Tikhaya Studio (Nizhny Novgorod).

Olenev Andrei

Irina Korina was born in Moscow. She graduated from the Faculty of Stage Design at the Russian Academy of Theatrical Art (GITIS) and the Institute of Contemporary Art (Moscow), also studying at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. She took part in the 53rd (Russian Pavilion, 2009) and 57th Venice Biennale (main project, 2017). She is a recipient of the Innovation Prize in the nomination New Generation (2015).

Korina Irina

Alexey Parygin was born in Leningrad. He graduated from the Drawing Faculty of Leningrad Herzen State Pedagogical Institute (1989). He has a Candidate of Art History degree (2002) and is a lecturer and docent in the Faculty of Design at St. Petersburg University of Technology and Design. He was the organizer and a member of the art group Union No. 0 (Leningrad, 1986–1989) and the creative squat/studio Nevsky 25 (Leningrad, 1987–1990). He is a member of the St. Petersburg Branch of the Union of Artists of Russia (since 1994) and the Association of Art Historians (since 2003). He is the author of numerous articles on the history of artistic prints.

Parygin Aleksei

Olga Deryugina was born in Moscow. She graduated from the British Higher School of Design (Moscow, 2013), Rodchenko Art School (Moscow, 2016), and BAZA Institute (Moscow, 2016). She is a member of the art group Margaritki (Daisies). In 2018, she was one of the curators of the START project at Winzavod Center for Contemporary Art (Moscow). She is the author of texts about art and culture and has worked with the publications Dialog iskusstv, Iskusstvo, aroundart, and Colta.ru.

Deryugina Olga

Aydan Salahova was born in Moscow. She graduated Moscow Surikov State Academic Art Institute (1987). From 1989 to 1992 she was co‑director and curator of First Gallery (Moscow). She was the founder of Aidan Gallery (Moscow, 1992–2012). She took part in the 44th and 54th Venice Biennale (Russian Pavilion, 1990; Azerbaijan Pavilion, 2011). She was a member of the Union of Artists of the USSR (1988) and is an academician of the Russian Academy of Arts (2002).

Salakhova Aidan

Anna Tereshkina was born in Omsk. She graduated from the Arts Faculty of Omsk State Pedagogical University (2008) and from the School of Engaged Art (St. Petersburg, 2014). She is a member of the sewing cooperative Shvemy, whose projects have been shown at the MediaUdar Festival (Moscow, 2015, 2016) and the 1st Garage Triennial of Russian Contemporary Art (Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, Moscow, 2017). Together with Anastasia Makarenko she curates Egorka Communal Gallery (St. Petersburg).

Tereshkina Anna

Ulyana Podkorytova was born in Bryansk. She graduated from Moscow Ivan Fyodorov State Printing University (2007), Rodchenko Art School (Moscow, 2017), and the Natalia Pshenichnikova’s Voice Laboratory at the Theater Institute (2016). She participated in the New Holland Island International Debut Film Festival (St. Petersburg, 2019) and the Platonov Arts Festival (Voronezh, 2019).

Podkorytova Ul'yana

Valery Korchagin was born in Krasnouralsk (Sverdlovskaya Oblast). He graduated from the Faculty of Art History and Culture Studies of Ural State University (Yekaterinburg, 1999) and the Interior Design Department of the Professional Development Faculty of Ural State Academy of Architecture and Art (Yekaterinburg, 2010). He headed the Artist’s Book Studio (National Center for Contemporary Arts, ROSIZO, 2015–2018). He is co‑founder of the Artist’s Book Museum (Moscow, 2020). He is a member of the Creative Union of Artists of Russia (New Trends Section).

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