The Times of London Profiles Dasha Zhukova and Dispels Some Myths About Her

As Vogue covers the opening of her new Moscow space, James Collard sat down with Dasha Zhukova and came away impressed:

For many young Russian women Zhukova represents a different kind of icon from a mere trophy beauty, because she’s savvy and professionally ambitious as well as attractive and chic, rather than bling, like an earlier wave of post-Soviet lovelies. And in common with her good friend Polina Deripaska – not just the wife of an oligarch, but also head of the publishing group FMG – Zhukova has always worked. She launched what she describes as a “small but successful” fashion label, Kova & T, with her old schoolfriend Christina Tang, and while by her own admission, she’s not “some art genius”, she has put all her energies and star power into getting the Garage off the ground.

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She’s also looking for sponsorship – and given Zhukova’s own cachet in Russia, now arguably the luxury goods industry’s leading market, it’s not hard to imagine some fancy-schmancy brands being only too willing to be associated with such a high-profile project. Interestingly, the second show at the Garage will be of contemporary art from the large collection of luxury goods tycoon François Pinault. “A great show for us,” says Zhukova, “given that many Russians aren’t so familiar with a lot of contemporary art, and his collection includes the best of many different kinds of work.”

[ . . . ]

There’s something disturbing in the ease with which the contemporary art scene
– which surely prides itself on its wild, free-form creativity –
settles down to doing business in countries like Russia and China. For the
art world, there are profits to be made and new opportunities, while for a
modern, outward-looking woman like Zhukova, introducing Russians to contemporary
art via the Garage and the educational programmes she plans must seem
exciting, progressive – and also politically neutral. Perhaps Russians
might now almost be hard-wired to tread carefully when it comes to politics
– and while Zhukova seems likeable, smart and funny and remarkably
down-to-earth, like many of her generation of Russians she seems no more
given to questioning the status quo than a Romanov princess might have been.

The Moscow Mash (Style.com)

How Dasha Zhukova is Revolutionizing Russian the Russian Art World (Times of London)