FEMALE'S VIEW
2001

Moscow at the Hudson
Julia Konstantinova
Novoye Russkoye Slovo, April 16, 2001

Nina Zaretskaya, founder and director of Art Media Center "TV Gallery", presented a specially arranged for New York video program "Female View", a three-hour screening of the video works of women artists from Moscow and St. Petersburg.

Video and multimedia art, which use new technologies as the foundation of the art process (mainly various ways of video and computer elaboration of images), has appeared not long ago. In America and Europe video art became available in the 60s with the appearance of a video camera. First attempts to use a personal computer for creation of an art piece were made in the West in the late 70s. In the Soviet Union video and computer art appeared only in the late 80s. In 1991 Nina Zaretskaya founded Art Media Center "TV Gallery" in Moscow, which has become a significant landmark in the development of this trend in Russia. Within 10 years the Center has turned into a respectable organization, which produces independent video films, TV programs about art, noncommercial projects, develops international contacts, participating in video festivals and arranging exhibitions (such leading American video artists as Nam June Paik and Mary Lucier were exhibited in "TV Gallery"). But the main trend of the Center’s activities is to support and stimulate the development of Russian video art.

Let us hope that the participation in the exhibition EVALUTZIA will become only the beginning of the permanent activities of Art Media Center "TV Gallery" in New York and that Russian video art will find its place at the Hudson’s banks.

Female's View from Russia
Maya Pritsker
Novoye Russkoye Slovo, March 12, 2001

CASE, the Museum of Contemporary Russian Art, decided to respond to the "woman’s month" traditionally being held in March, by arranging its own exhibition, with women artists from the former USSR and Eastern Europe (now living in the USA). Altogether there are 12 participants working in various genres. Here you can see the photographs by Eveline Bernstein, jewelry by Elisabeth-Ann Tockoly, painting on silk by Alla Sviridenko, sculptures by Sharon Bednarchick, and many other things. The most interesting thing is the video program prepared by Nina Zaretskaya, Director of Art Media Center "TV Gallery". Nina founded this gallery in 1991. The main trends of her work are as follows: research of the creative possibilities of video, collection of cultural life’s video archives, and production of TV programs and films about art. Zaretskaya brought to America a selection of short video films (1.5 min. - 12 min. long) united by one name – "Female's View". The only one really "long" film (almost 26 min.) is by Victoria Ukhalova, showing the action called "The Morning of Poetry" where such famous St. Petersburg artists as T. Novikov and A. Khlobystin take part. Timur Novikov appears in some more video films, including an ironical 6-min. interpretation of Griboedov’s "Wit Works Woe". Another interesting exhibit is a 10-min. "Bruner’$ Trial" by Olga Stolpovskaya, based on the famous "action" of Alexander Brener who had inscribed the "$" sign on K. Malevich’s picture "The White Cross" exhibited in Amsterdam Stedelik Museum. The film was shown at all most famous European festivals of independent cinema, and was purchased by New York MOMA.

Altogether there are 24 films in the compilation, which are very different and interesting in their own way.

The site has been created with the assistance of the "Open Society Institute" (Soros Foundation). Russia