Olga Chernysheva: Acquaintances

Moscow-based Russian artist Olga Chernysheva, a graduate of the Moscow Cinema Academy and the Rijksakademie, Amsterdam, captures quotidian life in post-communist Russia. Embedded within social reality, Chernysheva’s photographs carry nonetheless a lyricism and beauty that tacitly transforms the ordinary scenes and sights of and around Moscow into the extraordinary, and at times, seemingly miraculous. Chernysheva’s work frequently expresses a social interest in relation to how her country is changing. In her Moscow Area series she might highlight those things frequently relegated to the edges of society and consciousness, such as a group of the elderly in a home, an old lady entering a church to pray, or the queues of people entering and exiting the Moscow underground metro system. Whilst one can frequently read disillusionment, loss and isolation in Chernysheva’s images, one also sees signs of life and renewal, perseverance and warmth in what they depict. Her films and photographs transcend their documentary function, investigating instead the very fabric of the individuality, stoicism and self-sufficiency of the Russian character, meditating at the same time on the role of the artist in a time of change. Olga Chernysheva is the catalogue to accompany her exhibition at Anya Stonelake/White Space Gallery in London. Featuring over 40 images of her photographs and video stills, it includes the transcript of a conversation between Olga Chernysheva and Professor Robert Storr, as well as an introductory text to her work by Dr. Ekaterina Andreeva.