Irina Korina «Installations»

Moscow Contemporary» project, initiated in 2006 by the Moscow Museum of Modern Art and XL Gallery, has turned into a program that is constantly in charge of clearing artists from stereotypes and multiple layers of critical definitions. In Irina Korina`s case, it is extremely hard to imagine, what could be imposed on her oeuvre that is still strongly associated with the «young artist» type. However, this is a real stock phrase — for if we watch carefully the development of this artist, then inevitably at least two questions arise, and the answers discourage... The first of them is: is it still appropriate to list Korina in the «young» section? The fact is that during the last ten years she takes an active part in numerous exhibitions — not only annual solo shows but also all serious group projects, including those in museums and of international importance. This first question provokes the second one. A «young» artist is usually the one who is in constant search — that of new forms, too. Is this definition right for Korina, whose methods and style of artistic statement are very definite and recognizable at first sight? At least for the sake of answering these two simple questions we are showing a four-level installation at the Moscow Museum of Modern Art that includes her best projects of last years: «Urangst», «Camouflage», «Smiles», «Night Rate», «29 Installations», «Positive Vibrations», etc. Irina Korina`s «specialization» on the Moscow art scene is installation. It is worth noting that almost nobody of her generation practices this complicated genre better and more absorbing than Korina does. Her method is opposed to that of Moscow conceptualist artists who mastered this genre and were the first to establish this type of statement on Russian art scene. As a rule, the «movement» of conceptual installation develops from specific forms to some generalization or an esoteric «knowledge». The forms are quite realistic, and the complexity of the background depends on the artist`s ability to generalize. Installation of the 90`s, while keeping all the same specifications, is less narrative and constructed as a striking gesture that balances between reality and its interpretation. Korina walks a different way: her materials are usually finishing plastics with various surfaces that are widely present at construction markets. Each of Korina`s installations, at first glance, seem to be a fantastic «something» that almost always requires a certain perceptive effort from the viewer. If a conceptual installation develops from a part to the whole, Korina`s way is a visual abstraction provoked by definite specifications. Her complex installations are full of numerous allusions that endeavor to convey multiple emotions and blurred memories of a certain period of time, in all its visual and mental variety. Rather soon, a discouraged spectator starts to discern parameters of style, a nostalgic mood of the statement, and a witty plastic interpretation. And then this strange slit between the «rebuilding» plastics and the psychological exercises becomes Korina`s point of interest, her know-how. Or, a new way of Russian installation`s evolution. Irina Korina was born in Moscow in 1977. In 2000, she graduated from the Scenic Arts Faculty at the Russian Academy of Theatre Arts (GITIS); she also studied contemporary art at the Valand Academy of Fine Arts in Goteborg (Sweden) and at the Vienna Academy of Arts (Austria). She exhibits her work actively since 2000. In 2008, Irina Korina received «Innovation» prize, the state award in the field of contemporary art.