Anna Mishina-Vas’kova / Svoboda, Freedom, Liberty, Liberté, Libertad (2009)
Painting, video

This work deals with freedom of speech, thought, action, and conscience. The desire to do as one wants, cast off shackles, and efface boundaries. However, once free from everything, there is no need to strive for freedom. FREEDOM cannot exist without BOUNDARIES. Art is timeless: time only enhances its value, and boundaries define the space of its existence. Comparing works from different periods, by different artists effaces boundaries and engenders new forms of art. For example, the exhibition of contemporary sculpture by the Costa Rican artist Jorge Jiménez Deredia next to the Coliseum in Rome became a tangible symbol of the interpenetration of two totally different aesthetics, periods, and cultures. This effacing the boundaries of time and giving well-familiar «forms» new content, inspired the artist’s new series «ROME — A City without Boundaries».

Daria Usova / Mythical Artifacts (2009)
Collage, mixed media

It is no coincidence that the artist chose the theme of Ancient Egypt. Like today, people then had their own ideas about life both in this world and after death, and their own thoughts about their surroundings. The recreation of images, objects, and symbols of mythical and real life in this work is a conscious copying and interpretation of real artifacts. The collages enable us to look afresh at the almost forgotten time of all powerful rulers and idolaters. The sacral images of mythical Ancient Egypt coexist here with historical figures such as Nefertiti and Tutankhamen: effacing the invisible boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead.

Lada Shapovalova / Myth vs Reality (2009)
Painting, video

The project’s main idea is to reflect on myth and modernity without abandoning the traditional academic format of easel paintings on classical themes. On the one hand, there is the eternal attempt to find and portray the ideal of beauty as something desirable yet unattainable. On the other, there is an attempt to understand to what extent the boundary between fact and fiction is illusory and to portray a mythological landscape with scenes showing ordinary modern vacationers: Aphrodite responding to an SMS with people playing water polo in the background, a friendly conversation between Castor and Pollux, nameless goddesses, and a pensive Polyphemus. In addition to paintings, the artist presents a video shot by her son. The minute-long episode was made in Cirali, Antalya, where the mythical monster Chimera was killed.