Alexei Kostroma

Born in 1962 in Kostroma. Graduated from the Repin State Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture (1989). Participated in exhibitions in Russia, Germany, Britain, France, Spain, USA, including the Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art (2009, 2011), “Russian Dreams,” Bass Museum of Art, USA (2008), Liverpool Biennale (2002). Works held by: State Hermitage, State Russian Museum, Multimedia Art Museum, Moscow, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam.

UNO

In the early 1990s Alexei Kostroma proclaimed a new trend in contemporary art — one that was or­ganic and grew out of the early-20th century Russian avant garde. It was this “organic” path, connect­ed with study of the laws of nature, which allowed Kostroma to develop his personal style and his concept of the relationship between theory and practice in contemporary art. His oeuvre is rooted in exploring interactions between nature and man, and he strives to integrate his findings into the social environment. Kostroma always follows several directions in the development of his subject, and ex­plores the inner problems of people through the laws of nature, and the world as a single entity. “Everything that surrounds us and everything inside us serves as a subject for work.” On one hand, his art is always ultra-modern, because it is centered around highly inventive, technically flawless in­stallations that employ cutting-edge technology. On the other it is archaic and serious, reminding us that art is a universal instrument for comprehending the world, that it is research from scratch, with eyes wide-open and intuition at the ready. What happens in nature — in nature as a physical and cul­tural-historical phenomenon — is the starting point for his reflections. The “UNO” installation is a huge sphere covered with plastic bags that are blown about by air. It sug­gests a living peony but also a polluted planet, the excessive production of consumer goods, and the power and might of mankind, capable of ruining the Earth.