Art Market Monitor

Global Coverage ~ Unique Analysis

  • AMMpro
  • AMM Fantasy Collecting Game
  • Podcast
  • Contact Us

“Please, no questions about purchases and money”

January 21, 2009 by Marion Maneker

Victor Pinchuk Sticks to His Art

Bloomberg reports on the opening of Ukrainian steel magnate and art hound, Victor Pinchuk’s latest exhibition:

The steel tycoon opened the largest exhibition of Russian contemporary art in Ukraine’s post-Soviet history at the same time that the Kiev and Moscow governments were battling over natural gas sales. Shipments from Russia resumed yesterday after a price agreement was reached.

“Art doesn’t have boundaries,” Pinchuk said in an interview at his Kiev art center. “Ukraine is a place where art tendencies can intersect, coexist and enrich one another.” [ . . . ]

Pinchuk’s latest show, “21 Russia,” features works supplied by galleries of 21 Russian artists including Dubossarsky and Vinogradov, Alexei Kallima, the Blue Noses, AES+F, Valery Koshlyakov and Dmitry Gutov.

Alexander Soloviev, Pinchuk’s curator, said that while the display is a survey of leading artists during Vladimir Putin’s era, there is nothing political about it. “It’s about art for art’s sake,” said Soloviev.

Still, one work has a political tint. Sergey Shekhovtsov’s “Throne” is a three-meter-high Styrofoam installation of a czar’s throne. It premiered at XL Gallery in Moscow in March last year, on the day of elections that were denounced by pro- democracy campaigners for being under control of the Kremlin.

“Throne” is capped by mock video surveillance cameras, possibly a reference to the increased powers of security forces since Putin, a former KGB colonel, came to power.

The story, written by Bloomberg’s John Varoli, goes on to discuss Pinchuk’s show of photographs by Sam Taylor-Wood and Pinchuk’s relationship with Jay Jopling. But the world class art buyer set some stringent ground rules for Varoli:

“Please, no questions about purchases and money,” Pinchuk said before we started the interview.

Billionaire Pinchuk, Hirst Collector, Turns to Russia for Show (Bloomberg)

More from Art Market Monitor

  • Are the Russians Coming?Are the Russians Coming?
  • Pinchuk Fills a PostPinchuk Fills a Post
  • The Face Gets Her Close-UpThe Face Gets Her Close-Up
  • Meet the OligarchMeet the Oligarch
  • A View from the Middle of the Contemporary Market: Charlotte Van DercookA View from the Middle of the Contemporary Market: Charlotte Van Dercook
  • Phillips London Contemporary Has Richter, Kippenberger and LichtensteinPhillips London Contemporary Has Richter, Kippenberger and Lichtenstein

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Contemporary, Oligarchs

About Marion Maneker

LiveArt

Want to get Art Market Monitor‘s posts sent to you in our email? Sign up below by clicking on the Subscribe button.

  • About Us/ Contact
  • Podcast
  • AMMpro
  • Newsletter
  • FAQ

twitterfacebooksoundcloud
Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
California Privacy Rights
Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Advertise on Art Market Monitor