Koons Works Star in Pinault Show at Abramovich-Backed Gallery

Koons Works Star in Pinault Show at Abramovich-Backed Gallery
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Preview by John Varoli
March 19 (Bloomberg) -- Jeff Koons and Bill Viola works star in a show of art owned by French billionaire Francois Pinault that is being staged in Moscow.
The 53 artworks go on display today at the Garage Center for Contemporary Culture founded by Dasha Zhukova, partner to another billionaire, Roman Abramovich. The exhibition also includes works by Dan Flavin, Takashi Murakami of Japan, Shirin Neshat of Iran and Subodh Gupta of India.
“A Certain State of the World” is the second show at Garage, which opened in September last year with a retrospective of the artists Ilya and Emilia Kabakov, and financial support from Abramovich.
“The exhibition is a milestone in Moscow’s cultural development because international contemporary art of such caliber has not yet been seen here,” said Zhukova, 27, in an interview in Moscow.
The show is funded by Zhukova’s Iris Foundation, which gets support from corporate sponsors and private donations, she said. “Iris” refers to the membrane that gives human eyes their color, and not the flower, said Zhukova.
The Francois Pinault Foundation collection has more than 2,000 artworks. Pinault, the sole owner of London-based auction house Christie’s International, opens his own arts center in June at the Punta della Dogana in Venice.
Koons’s Heart
On display at Garage are five works by Koons, including the chromium stainless steel “Hanging Heart (Red/Gold)” (1994- 2006). Sotheby’s sold a version for $23.6 million in November 2007, at the time a record for the most expensive work by a living artist.
All five parts of Viola’s video and sound installation, “Going Forth by Day” (2002), are also on display. There will be four untitled photographs by Cindy Sherman made in 2007/2008.
“For an art lover to present his collection in Moscow -- the cradle of modernist utopias, from Malevich to Mondrian -- is a unique opportunity,” Pinault, 72, wrote in the show’s catalog.
Zhukova said some explicit images were not used because of children visiting the center.
“Art sometimes should have shock value and make people uncomfortable, but we have responsibilities to the families who come here,” said Zhukova, explaining that children’s classes will be held regularly starting April 4.
“Garage’s education element, especially for children, is something I am passionate about,” said Zhukova, dressed in dark jeans and a sweater. “I hope Garage will be a home for innovative and creative minds, and encourage a new generation of Russian artists.”
The Pinault exhibition is Garage’s first event in 2009, and there will be four more exhibitions this year. Garage will also serve as the central space for the Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art that opens on Sept. 24.
Lynch Photos
Garage’s next exhibition opens in April, and features photographs by American filmmaker David Lynch and French shoe designer Christian Louboutin.
“We’ve had some big names so far,’’ said Zhukova. “But I want to find a healthy balance between displaying works by established artists and those of young and relatively unknown artists.”
Garage is located in the former Bakhmetevsky Bus Depot, an 8,500-square-meter building dating back to the mid-1920s.
Zhukova, who grew up and was educated in California, said her art collection “is a private matter.” She only said her last purchase were photographs made by young and little-known artists in New York.
She was also impressed by the satirical figurative paintings of John Currin during a visit to his New York studio.
Zhukova, who owns a fashion line, Kova & T, was recently named chief editor of the British fashion magazine, Pop.
“While I remain an investor at Kova & T, my day-to-day involvement there will be limited,” said Zhukova. “Garage and Pop magazine are my priorities.”
“A Certain State of the World: A Selection of Works From Francois Pinault Foundation,’’ is at the Garage Center for Contemporary Culture until June 14.
For more information click: http://www.garageccc.ru.
(John Varoli writes for Bloomberg News. Opinions expressed are his own.)
To contact the writer on the story: John Varoli in Moscow at jvaroli@gmail.com. Last Updated: March 18, 2009 20:00 EDT