The bare body performance in the UK and in Russia presented as a part of the 6th Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art.

Intimate Collaborations explored the intimate relationship between performance and photography, the action and the image. Intimate Collaborations invited the viewer to an intimate encounter with Manuel Vason’s artistic practice along with new work specifically commissioned for this exhibition.
In Vason’s Intimate Collaborations with other artists, a performance work is either restaged anew or uniquely developed, specifically for his camera. These projects differ in principle from conventional documentation of performance in that Vason is always the sole witness to the singular live event, which also takes place in a non-theatrical space of the artists« choosing. Each collaboration is predicated on a series of mutual concerns: a challenge to the relationship between performance and the photographic document; a fascination with the body; and the exploration of new forms of collaborative practice.

Manuel Vason’s artistic practice explores the relationship between photography and performance, presence and representation. He considers the capturing of a moment as an act of creation, a ritual towards the illusion of immortality, and an exchange between who is in front and who is behind the camera. The collaborative nature of his practice shapes a unique, hybrid art form and generates new vocabularies. His collaborations to date have produced some of the most iconic images of performance and his work has been published and presented internationally.
Vason was born in Padua, Italy in 1974. He discovered his interest in photography while working in a black and white professional darkroom. After having assisted some of the most celebrated fashion photographers of his generation in Milan, New York, Paris, London and Los Angeles, he decided to pursue a Masters degree in Fine Art at Central Saint Martins at University of the Arts in London. In 2002 he completed and presented two books: Exposures a publication on the body in Live Art (Black Dog Publishing, 2002) and Oh Lover Boy, a two-year collaboration with artist Franko B (Black Dog Publishing, 2002). In 2007 Vason’s first solo exhibition Encounters was presented and accompanied by a 230 pages catalogue (Arnolfini/Cornerhouse). In 2012 he presented Still_Movil an itinerant exhibition of Co-creations with 45 Choreographers in South America.

The bare body performance in the UK and in Russia presented as a part of the 6th Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art.

Intimate Collaborations explored the intimate relationship between performance and photography, the action and the image. Intimate Collaborations invited the viewer to an intimate encounter with Manuel Vason’s artistic practice along with new work specifically commissioned for this exhibition.
In Vason’s Intimate Collaborations with other artists, a performance work is either restaged anew or uniquely developed, specifically for his camera. These projects differ in principle from conventional documentation of performance in that Vason is always the sole witness to the singular live event, which also takes place in a non-theatrical space of the artists« choosing. Each collaboration is predicated on a series of mutual concerns: a challenge to the relationship between performance and the photographic document; a fascination with the body; and the exploration of new forms of collaborative practice.
Manuel Vason’s artistic practice explores the relationship between photography and performance, presence and representation. He considers the capturing of a moment as an act of creation, a ritual towards the illusion of immortality, and an exchange between who is in front and who is behind the camera. The collaborative nature of his practice shapes a unique, hybrid art form and generates new vocabularies. His collaborations to date have produced some of the most iconic images of performance and his work has been published and presented internationally.
Vason was born in Padua, Italy in 1974. He discovered his interest in photography while working in a black and white professional darkroom. After having assisted some of the most celebrated fashion photographers of his generation in Milan, New York, Paris, London and Los Angeles, he decided to pursue a Masters degree in Fine Art at Central Saint Martins at University of the Arts in London. In 2002 he completed and presented two books: Exposures a publication on the body in Live Art (Black Dog Publishing, 2002) and Oh Lover Boy, a two-year collaboration with artist Franko B (Black Dog Publishing, 2002). In 2007 Vason’s first solo exhibition Encounters was presented and accompanied by a 230 pages catalogue (Arnolfini/Cornerhouse). In 2012 he presented Still_Movil an itinerant exhibition of Co-creations with 45 Choreographers in South America.

Inspired by World Water Day on the 22nd March 2017 a group of ten Alumni from Chelsea College of Art working closely with St Paul’s Cathedral’s Schools and Family Learning Department and St Paul’s Institute staged a project inspired by the theme of water. The nine artists and two curators come from the UK, Mexico, US, Spain, Ukraine and New Zealand. Each station presented an art installation, encouraging visitors to contemplate the themes and issues inspired by World Water Day before moving onto the next station. The nine stations were all inspired by water and themes such as access to clean drinking water, pollution, conservation, privatization of water, drought and global warming. Each Station was presented by an installation of either a, painting, sculpture, video, sound or light installation and performance.

It took two years of hard work to present Connect:Katowice at Hornsey Town Hall in London and later at Rondo Gallery in Katowice. The project was presented by a series of British and Polish artists’ partnerships from Chelsea College of Arts in London and Academy of Fine Arts in Katowice, curated by Oxana Smirnova and Pawel Mendrek. The dialogue between the artists and curators started in September 2015, and aimed to question the foundational role of perception in understanding their own worlds and the worlds of others. These discussions were followed by the period of artists’ online and offline meetings, conversations, and building of connections, which resulted in a collective, introductory art exhibition in December 2016 at Hornsey Town Hall Art Centre in London. The research process and organic evolution of the project then continued for a further 6 months, culminating as an art festival and finale in June 2017 at the Rondo Gallery and other venues in Katowice.

Connect:Katowice project aimed to show the audience how beneficial intercultural communication can be and reflects the interconnection of the roles of artists and curators coming from very different backgrounds. The project investigated and addressed a variety of subjects; some of the artists have been exploring the theme of Polish-British migration during the WWII and how it influenced those involved in the migration process and their further generations; other artists have been interested in studying each other’s lands, their hidden traces, and folklore. And most importantly, all artists have been exchanging the artistic techniques and experience that they each gained in their homelands.

We strongly believe that the result of the project was very beneficial for the artists and the curators involved in it. The progress of the collaboration process was moving in various directions, both expected and unexpected. Sometimes smooth, sometimes resistant, the results were great pieces of art being created by both groups and individuals under the influence of the collaborative process. Forming a collective within the institution also continues to be very advantageous for all parties in that a pro-active collective makes it easier to bring the initiatives forward. Therefore, as an evolving group of creatives, and a rich platform for interdisciplinary exchange, we aim to continue stretching our boundaries by organising various experimental collaborations in future.

Artists: Paul Abbott, Marilyn Collins, Marcin Czarnopyś, Sarah Faulkner, Kelise Franclemont, Dagmara Jemioła-Hryniewicka, Karina Kałuża, Wojtek Kazimierczak, Ewa Kozera, Monika Krasoń, Izabela Łęska, Agata Leżuch, Joseph Lichy, Shadi Mahsa, Mariusz Maślanka, Monika Mysiak, Regan O’Callaghan, Aga Piotrowska-Jaworek, Alex Roberts, Magda Sierpińska, Sybilla Skałuba, Jonathan Slaughter, Agata Szymanek, Louise Wheeler, Joanna Zdzienicka, Adam Żółtowski, Angelina Kornecka

We strongly believe that the result of the project was very beneficial for the artists and the curators involved in it. The progress of the collaboration process was moving in various directions, both expected and unexpected. Sometimes smooth, sometimes resistant, the results were great pieces of art being created by both groups and individuals under the influence of the collaborative process. Forming a collective within the institution also continues to be very advantageous for all parties in that a pro-active collective makes it easier to bring the initiatives forward. Therefore, as an evolving group of creatives, and a rich platform for interdisciplinary exchange, we aim to continue stretching our boundaries by organising various experimental collaborations in future.

Artists: Paul Abbott, Marilyn Collins, Marcin Czarnopyś, Sarah Faulkner, Kelise Franclemont, Dagmara Jemioła-Hryniewicka, Karina Kałuża, Wojtek Kazimierczak, Ewa Kozera, Monika Krasoń, Izabela Łęska, Agata Leżuch, Joseph Lichy, Shadi Mahsa, Mariusz Maślanka, Monika Mysiak, Regan O’Callaghan, Aga Piotrowska-Jaworek, Alex Roberts, Magda Sierpińska, Sybilla Skałuba, Jonathan Slaughter, Agata Szymanek, Louise Wheeler, Joanna Zdzienicka, Adam Żółtowski, Angelina Kornecka

It took two years of hard work to present Connect:Katowice at Hornsey Town Hall in London and later at Rondo Gallery in Katowice. The project was presented by a series of British and Polish artists’ partnerships from Chelsea College of Arts in London and Academy of Fine Arts in Katowice, curated by Oxana Smirnova and Pawel Mendrek. The dialogue between the artists and curators started in September 2015, and aimed to question the foundational role of perception in understanding their own worlds and the worlds of others. These discussions were followed by the period of artists’ online and offline meetings, conversations, and building of connections, which resulted in a collective, introductory art exhibition in December 2016 at Hornsey Town Hall Art Centre in London. The research process and organic evolution of the project then continued for a further 6 months, culminating as an art festival and finale in June 2017 at the Rondo Gallery and other venues in Katowice.

Connect:Katowice project aimed to show the audience how beneficial intercultural communication can be and reflects the interconnection of the roles of artists and curators coming from very different backgrounds. The project investigated and addressed a variety of subjects; some of the artists have been exploring the theme of Polish-British migration during the WWII and how it influenced those involved in the migration process and their further generations; other artists have been interested in studying each other’s lands, their hidden traces, and folklore. And most importantly, all artists have been exchanging the artistic techniques and experience that they each gained in their homelands.

LIVE was curated by the Exhibition Studio Workshop, which comprised the MA Curating & Collections 2014-2015 students. The artworks have been selected as curatorial expressions of the theme LIVE, which was interpreted broadly through installation, film, photography, painting, the art of making, interaction, immersion, and sound. Diverse research interests of the curators, along with their various academic and professional backgrounds, is demonstrated throughout the exhibition both in CHELSEA space and the Cookhouse at Chelsea College of Arts.

Artists: Yussef Agbo-Ola, David Batchelor, Erick Benjamins, Xu Bing, Claire Brewster, Lucy Brickwood, Nicola Canavan, Carla Chan Ho-Choi, TingTing Cheng, Peter Downsbrough, Chris Eimeamkamol, Richard Evans, Chris Gibson, Harry Hurlock, Alfredo Jaar, Hutsuma Juntaratana, Nick Knight, Sachiko Kodama, Hyemi Ku, Shuang Luo, Shadi Mahsa, Panlert, Fyodor Pavlov-Andreevich, Lyndall Phelps, Peter Saville, Marcel Schwittlick, Stanley Kubrick Archive, Ayşegül Turan, Linda Vigdorcika, Panatchakorn Viratmalee, Lawrence Weiner, Gary Woodley, Kaiyan Yu, Guojun Zhang, Zimeng Zhu.

Bond by GQ exhibition was created with a two-fold purpose: the 50th anniversary of the release on screen of the first film about the adventures of the most suave spy of all time, as well as the forthcoming premiere on 26 October, of the 23rd Bond film, Skyfall. The name is Bond, James Bond. Retired Royal Navy Commander, and current secret agent On Her Majesty’s Service, licensed to kill, with the number 007. Here was the darkened lair of Colonel-General Grubozaboyshikov, head of SMERSH (you can read about him in that most well-known of all Fleming’s books, “From Russia with Love”); this was a Soviet bunker straight out of the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Cold War. In the Chocolate space there are spy accessories spanning the whole Bond legend. In the Made for Gentlemen corner the viewer found the attributes of this quintessential gentleman: three suits by Brioni which appeared in the Bond films; hats, shoes and a golden gun. And, of course, the girls: one whole wall of the gallery was given over to the girls who won Bond’s heart; on the other, vintage portraits of all the 007 stars; glossy photos taken by the legendary photographer Terry O’Neill, who has dedicated half a century of his life to Bondiana. The museum was showing the first screening of a documentary about the filming of the last part of Quantum of Solace. In addition, BOND by GQ was showing a unique collection of the titles to twenty-two of the Bond films.

Covered with Snow presented twenty-eight outstanding animated films and notable works by contemporary artists who were inspired by snow. All this became a single art-amusement and immersive art experience for super active children, aggressive teenagers, ecstatic hipsters, young mothers, lonely businessmen, older orthodox ladies and sophisticated guest workers. (For everyone.)

Artists: Alexander Brodsky, Recycle Group, Marina Alekseeva and Boris Kazakov, Peter Aidu, Heehoos, Alexei Tregubov, Andrei Topunov, Vladimir Klykov, Daria Krotova, Rostan Tavasiev, Maria Koshenkova, Hello Computer Studio and others Films by Alexander Tatarsky, Yuri Norshtein, Tim Maltby, Roman Kachanov, Robert Saakyants, Diane Jackson, Dave Fleischer, and many more

British architect and artist Alex Schweder’s exhibition Performance Architecture was a part of the parallel program of the Fifth Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art. Alex Schweder has taught at the Southern California Institute of Architecture and the Institute for Art and Architecture in Vienna. With his practice he studies how an inhabitant or guest in a space changes the character of architecture, and how the latter, in turn, influences the sensations and behavior of people.
Schweder’s works have been shown at the Tate Britain (Practise Architecture, 2013), the London Festival of Architecture (Its Form Will Follow Your Performance, 2012), Biennial of the Americas (Draft Urbanism, 2013), Lisbon Architecture Triennale (Close, Closer, 2013) and other venues. On the eve of the opening of Schweder’s Moscow show, his works will be the focus of the September issue of Frieze Magazine, Britain’s most influential art publication.
Artists: Yussef Agbo-Ola, David Batchelor, Erick Benjamins, Xu Bing, Claire Brewster, Lucy Brickwood, Nicola Canavan, Carla Chan Ho-Choi, TingTing Cheng, Peter Downsbrough, Chris Eimeamkamol, Richard Evans, Chris Gibson, Harry Hurlock, Alfredo Jaar, Hutsuma Juntaratana, Nick Knight, Sachiko Kodama, Hyemi Ku, Shuang Luo, Shadi Mahsa, Panlert, Fyodor Pavlov-Andreevich, Lyndall Phelps, Peter Saville, Marcel Schwittlick, Stanley Kubrick Archive, Ayşegül Turan, Linda Vigdorcika, Panatchakorn Viratmalee, Lawrence Weiner, Gary Woodley, Kaiyan Yu, Guojun Zhang, Zimeng Zhu.