Daria Zhukova re-emerges as the face of the art market after a brief hiatus. Her recent show of works from Francois Pinault’s collection has been getting good press. Here she sits down with Peter Aspden of the Financial Times:
Her enthusiasm for the project is palpable. She takes my napkin to show how the parallelogram structure of the building has been adapted over the past 12 months to form a versatile home for future exhibitions. She says she only ever thought about the Garage as a space for hosting “6,000 square metres of amazing contemporary art”.
[ . . . ] Zhukova says the introductory element of the Pinault show, curated by Caroline Bourgeois, is deliberately conceived. Moscow is a reluctant embracer of novel art forms and she wanted to show a panorama of contemporary art to what may be a grudging public. “I am sure a lot of people won’t understand it. A lot of people will be confused and sceptical. The most popular art movement here is Impressionism, that’s what we were taught was beautiful.” She knows it’s a long way from Renoir to the hyper-polished hearts of Jeff Koons or the raw visual jokes of Maurizio Cattelan. [ . . . ]
I say one of my worries about contemporary art is that it can appear over-decorative, and shows little sign of engagement with social and political issues. “That can be true but maybe people are tired of political art and want something beautiful.” [ . . . ]Continue Reading