History and Culture: The exhibition “Alexander Rodchenko. From the collections of the Still Art Foundation” open in Kazan

The photo exhibition of the remarkable artist of the Russian avant-garde Alexander Rodchenko from the collections of the Still Art Foundation, created by Elena and Mikhail Karisalovs, has opened in the Gallery of Modern Art of the State Museum of Visual Arts of Republic of Tatarstan in Kazan. The exposition includes Rodnichenko’s works of different years, from the first photographic experiences of the 1920s to the late 1930s.

The project has been organized within the framework of the educational program of the Lumiere Gallery and the Still Art Foundation. Its goal is to popularize photographs in Russian cities and regions. Since 2021, photo exhibitions have been held in St. Petersburg, Siberia, Ural and Volga region.

The exhibition displays famous portraits of Rodchenko’s friends – artists, architects, poets, writers, film directors, workers of the magazines LEF and Novy LEF. It includes the well-known portrait of Lilya Brik, which became the basis for the poster of Lengiz, several photographs of Vladimir Mayakovsky from the first photo shoot in Rodnichensko’s studio at Myasnitskaya (1924) and the famous photograph of Osip Brik, where the name of the magazine LEF is placed instead of one of the lenses of the glasses.

The exposition features 58 silver-gelatin prints from two albums of the museum series of portfolios, issued in 35 copies in 1994-1997 and collected under the direction of Varvara Rodchenko, Alexander Lavrentiev and the art dealer Howard Schickler.

Printing of photographs, included in the portfolio and provided by the Still Art Foundation, has been conducted by Alexander Lavrentiev and Yuri Plaksin in Rodchenko’s photo laboratory from the original negatives.

Alexander Mikhailovich Rochenko (1891–1956) was one of the leaders of the Russian avant-garde, pioneer in arts, sculpture, book, poster, film and theatre design. He began photographing in 1924. His experimental approach to photography forever changed the history of this kind of art and not only influenced the contemporaries, but also defined the development of photography for decades to come. By using such methods as shooting from an unusual angle (top-down and bottom-up) that were instantly called “rodchenkovsky”, the diagonal construction of the composition, which sets the dynamic and rhythm of the frame, shooting details and close-ups, the use of double exposure and fine work with chiaroscuro contrasts, Rodchenko sought, according to Osip Brik, to turn a familiar thing into a “seemingly never-seen construction”, to change a person’s habitual view of the environment, to expand the possibilities of “seeing things”.

The exhibition will run until November 27, 2022.