Too much

The Ruarts Foundation presents a new large-scale exhibition by contemporary Russian artists. The exhibition features works by two artists of the MYTH gallery – Alina Glazoun and Lyudmila Baronina.

Enthused by studying the diversity of cultural manifestations, in the new project entitled ‘Too Much’ the curators decided to focus on the phenomenon of kitsch, examining it on the basis of modern art from the early post-Soviet years to the present day. The exhibition conceptualises kitsch as an important element of contemporary visual culture, and its intricate dialectical relations with art are clarified through mutual references and symbolic connections.

The exhibition combines several polyphonic levels, each of which is described by one of the common subjects of kitsch. These include the paradisiacal life revealed in proximity to nature, the cult of celebrity and standards of corporeal and spiritual beauty, high culture and its aesthetic canon.

“The exhibition ‘Too Much’ provides an opportunity for a critical look at the defining features of kitsch: positive content, simplicity and unambiguity, parody, sentimentality and formulaicity, and also demonstrates the stable signs of its visual language and figurative system: flowers, jewellery, children, mythological characters and creatures, media personalities, sweethearts and lovers. The exhibition allows us to discover the vast potential kitsch offers for the study of present-day culture, collective and individual values, as well as for artistic reflection,” explains Alexey Maslyaev, curator of the project.

Photo: Lyudmila Shemetova