If you go inside Tretyakov Gallery this weekend, you can see more than two hundred toys on display — although a sign nearby says they are not toys.
They are and they aren't. The "Not Toys?!" exhibit brings together fifty Russian artists and their toys as a way of telling the history of Russian art through the medium of the toy.
The first part of the exhibit, "Children Avant-Guarde," has a set of fascinating rarities — mock-ups, puzzles and brain-teasers designed during the 1930s by the Institute of Scientific Experimentation of Zagorsk by A. Guesner, a mysterious person recently discovered by the show's curators. The games all bear a striking resemblance to avant-garde and suprematist art in some way.
As the exhibition goes on, the visitor time-travels through toy sections with titles like “Fetishes and Magical Objects,” “Altar Forms and Sanctuary,” “Toys as Subjects of Manipulations” and “Installations of Toys,” and he or she sees the way that contemporary artists have taken the toy and used it in their work.
“Think of a good toy installation — it is a children’s playground,” said Kirill Alexeyev, one of the exhibit's curators.
One of the most interesting new works on display is an installation by Rostan Tavasiyev, a Russian conceptualist and resident artist at Aidan Gallery who is famous for using plush teddy bears.
"It doesn’t matter what I put as the main element of my project, if it were teddy bears, bunnies, elephants or elks, viewers take them for teddy bears anyway,” Tavasiyev said.
The heroes of his installation, "Museums Surrender to Toys," are plush giraffes peacefully grazing in a fine art museum. Taking a closer look, one notices that the giraffes are actually attacking the museum and its masterpieces, chewing on some vegetation in a copy of a Mikhail Vrubel painting, trying to climb up Nicholas Roerich’s "Himalayas" or resting in a hammock made of a strip of an Alexei Savrasov canvas. The giraffes are definitely not toys.
“Not Toys?!” runs till Nov. 8. New Tretyakov Gallery, 10 Krymsky Val, Halls No. 80-82. Metro Oktyabrskaya, Park Kultury. Tretyakovgallery.ru.
A Message from The Moscow Times:
Dear readers,
We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent."
These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.
We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help.
Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It's quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact.
By supporting The Moscow Times, you're defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us.
Remind me later.