EXHIBITION
I didn't Recognize You Either /


22.03 – 14.04.2019
ABOUT
In the context of the project two artists create a dialogue or a narrative focused on the essential impossibility of any conversation. Valery Chtak expresses it with encrypted ironic messages in different languages, while Kirill Kto wins over with his sincere ambiguous statements. The exhibition will be held in the large hall of Cube.Space and will combine works representing various genres and techniques, most of which will be produced directly on site. Murals, paintings on canvas, banners, pieces of cardboard, figurative painting, abstract art, text and image – the artists use various expressive mediums to define the limits of their artistic vernacular. From a simplistic viewpoint, this can be seen as an interaction of two different practices: street art that invades the space of a traditional art exhibition, and contemporary painting that street art practices.
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'People tend to actively argue about the least important things. This statement shouldn't be considered as an argument, but one can keep in mind that each of the authors tries to overcome the 'street': one – the imposed one, the other – the real one. Which can create a sense of polemics, if not antagonism. But it's just a feeling. Nothing is distinctly or clearly defined. Each phrase is linked with the search for the Truth. Or something in that vein. Perhaps, the Void that, from a certain viewpoint, is, in fact, the Truth. Perhaps, there's no search at all. Why are they doing it then? Well, it's interesting to see what happens' - Valery Chtak.

'What do I know about Valera and what awaits me? I've known Valera for a long time and I don't know him well enough. I think he is great, I respect him, I envy him and I am sсeptical about him. But I don't know him well. Only some superficial facts which I most likely misinterpret due to my carelessness. He used to smoke a lot and was an apologist of smoking, then he quit and it was a piece of cake. He paints words and sentences on canvases in different non-mainstream languages like Serbian or Latin. Some critical interpreters associate him (I say 'some' not to omit someone's names, but simply because I don't remember who they were and whether they existed at all) with graffiti for some reason, while the more superficial oneswith Basquiat. In 2012 he said 'no to street art' but received a paint marker as a gift and was repeatedly seen legally painting corrugated sheets and a brick wall with a spray can. He repeatedly declared that he was afraid of the streets, but he declared it passionately and boldly in his own way. Maybe it was just a pose. What else? There must be something else. We have known each other for 12 years, after all. Maybe we will even create a good artwork. But it's not really that important' - Kirill Lebedev (Kto).

EXHIBITION
VIEWS
ARTIST
Kirill Kto is a cult figure in Moscow's street art subculture, and has contributed to it not only through his diverse artistic practice, but also as one of the few theorists and curators of street art. Lebedev was involved in street art as part of the Zachem? collective (2002-2009) and No Future Forever collective (2005-2009). He co-organised Pasha 183's posthumous solo show Our Work is a Feat! at Moscow Museum of Modern Art (2014); initiated and oversaw the first street art prize in Russia, Street Contribution (2013); and co-curated the Wall project at Winzavod Center for Contemporary Art (2010–2013). Lives and works in Moscow.
Valery Chtak (b. 1981) has developed his significant black and white painting style, an artistic language that he continues to explore to this day in the late 90s. Around the same time Chtak and friends attended an informal contemporary art school founded by Avdey Ter-Oganyan. Between 2000 and 2005 Chtak was part of the Radek Community – an artist association committed to staging cutting-edge performances.