Cool Hunting

"No Echo, No Shadow," Anton Ginzburg's first solo show at Moscow's Galerie Iragui, straddles the boundaries of cultural and political epochs with its collection of objets d'art. The works—a mask, bronzes, works on paper, neon text—make implicit reference to the transition from early 20th century European art to the minimalism of the '60s and '70s.

Everything in the exhibition either hangs in a tenuous balance, refusing facile readings, or reflection and juxtaposition underscore the work's impact. Pieces such as a diptych copy from the 1989 Playboy photo shoot of Natalya Negoda comment on a sexual coming-of-age in parallel with the Soviet Union during perestroika.

The centerpiece, a large cast plastic mask of Medusa, features a convex mirror mouth which turns the viewer's gaze back at himself. The implication here being our collective complicity, through passive observation, in the activities of an awful power. It's a notion we would all do well to remember.

"No Echo, No Shadow"
Through 14 October 2009
Galerie Iragui
7/7-5, Malaya Polyanka
119180, Moscow, Russia
tel. +7 499 238 2783

See more images after the jump.