open
when others close
Would
the reopening of a small private shop be a great event for a large city? Perhaps
not, even if it is an art gallery. But if at the same time, another gallery closed,
and what's more, that gallery belonged to the Union of Artists, the two occurrences
would look somewhat odd. Why is that?
Art
shops/galleries are not important in themselves. In the end, it's just a kind
of business. Still they create a definite locus in the city, an atmosphere that
promotes the spirit of art and gives artists the opportunity to be artists, through
selling their artworks. So, here's what happened in Krasnoyarsk: this summer,
a private art salon "Dar" reopened, and the Union of Artists' art shop was closed
and the space was leased to a big telephone company. I decided to take a close
look at these events.
art
salon "dar" ("dar" may be interpreted from Russian as "gift")
There would be no sense in telling
the long story of an art venture. The central point is that the art salon lost
its direction some years ago and had to cease activity. And yet, in the middle
of this year, it was reopened in Krasnoyarsk. I talked to the salon owner, Sergey
Zadereev, and was curious about how the small art gallery managed to refinance
itself.
Mr. Zadereev
admitted that only selling paintings doesn't bring financial stability. In the
case of the art salon, the real basis of survival is trade in antiques - icons
and old expensive things in general. It is by the way, a surprisingly common problem
for small provincial galleries, and also in the West. This summer, I happened
to visit an art gallery in Bautzen (in what was East Germany). The owner of the
City Galerie (www.citygalerie-bautzen.de)
Mr. Brilke complained that "perhaps, only four people came in the whole year that
wanted real art." Others look for cheap decorative paintings depicting their native
town, or sugary landscapes.
Dar
art salon does exhibit paintings. For the opening event, it offered a collection
by two of the most notorious local artists - Vasily Slonov and Alexander Levchenko.
My impression was that art trade is not a business in Krasnoyarsk that brought
great revenues, but one way or another art shops secured their survival.
Left
- speech by a politician at the opening event; right - artists watching
the event, Slonov (left) and Levchenko (right)
art
shop "vernissage"
In
contrast to private art ventures, the art shop Vernissage had always been the
property of the Russian Union of Artists, a huge public organization inherited
from the Soviet Union times. It meant by the way, that an art shop that belonged
to the Union did not have to pay for the lease. What can be a headache for an
independent business was just free for the shop.
In
this instance, the Union of Artists closed the art shop and leased
the place to a telephone company. I talked to various people asking for their
opinion regarding the probable causes. The average judgment was that "the people
governing the Union just want money." Moreover, the owners of private galleries
believe the closure has a negative effect on the local art market. Although the
art shop was a competitor for them, the private galleries are interested in maintaining
a definite artistic atmosphere in the city.
It's
always quite easy to judge from outside and to blame. A conversation with artist
George Kuzakov, a man who knows the problem from inside, helped me get a more
sober viewpoint of the matter. Unlike private art ventures the Union of Artists
started in 1991, not from scratch. It inherited from Soviet era a lot of property:
exhibition halls, art shops, artist studios etc. Real estate however brings not
only the enjoyable feeling of possession but also obligations to upkeep it. A
sharp increase in prices for electricity, water, heating etc. in the few last
years caused an enormous growth in debt. The shop building needs repairing. The
new leadership had actually, two alternatives: either sell the Union's property
to cover debts, or earn money. Running small art shops can by no means solve the
problem.
The future
will reveal whether the Union of Artists is able to compensate for the closure.
The organization obviously has no desire to exit the art market completely. On
the contrary, it wants to hold a niche where small enterprises can hardly compete
now - large exhibitions and large sculpture projects. Yet, in our economically
over-dynamic environment, it's hard to foresee the fates of so different art market
subjects as small private shops and a big public organization.
One
thing is for sure: as long as artists create, the public will want the art; or,
as long as people have sensory demands, artists have a chance.
Vladimir
Gavrikov
gavrikov@online.ru
