Experience Olga Chernysheva: Chandeliers in the Forest – A Thought-Provoking Art Exhibition

This exhibition by Olga Chernysheva showcases a collection of her works across various media, including drawings, paintings, and videos. The exhibition delves into contemplative moments where inner states manifest externally, reflecting on the impact of economic and social change on individuals.

Olga Chernysheva is renowned for her empathetic observation and sharp chronicling of everyday Russian life, translating the effects of economic and social change into 'poetic relationships' through drawings, paintings, photographs, and videos. For 'Chandeliers in the Forest,' Chernysheva curated a selection of new and older works from various series and media, focusing on contemplative moments where inner states externalize. Her psychological approach aligns with 19th-century Russian Realism and Soviet Avant-garde film, drawing inspiration from figures like Sergei Eisenstein and Dziga Vertov for innovative montage techniques and cinematic expressionism, though her work eschews the overt drama and ideology of earlier films. Instead, she emphasizes the psychological expressiveness of individual frames and the narrative power of gestures and facial expressions, similar to Dovzhenko's use of close-ups and long takes. The exhibition features drawings and paintings in the Graphic Cabinet, stemming from the expressiveness of body language. 'Queuing' (2017), a series of charcoal drawings for the exhibition's staircase, depicts the tense posture of waiting carriage horses in Vienna, reflecting their physical discomfort. Additionally, small oil paintings titled 'Moscow River' (2017) illustrate changing movement patterns as people navigate a drastically receded riverbed. In the lower level, video works like the new video 'Chekhov Museum' (2017) and the 18-channel video installation 'Screens' (2010–2017) explore cinematic motifs set underground. 'Chekhov Museum' follows Chernysheva filming documents and photos while listening to a museum employee's anecdotes about Anton Chekhov, revealing the 'art mediator' to be a guard who returns to her post when an official arrives. This connects to her earlier 'Guards' series (2009) exploring latent attention. Drawings of queues on Moscow's escalators, titled 'Escalator' or 'Escalation,' act like comic speech bubbles. The exhibition's title, 'Chandeliers in the Forest,' originates from a series of lightboxes that exemplify Chernysheva's oeuvre: depicting human ingenuity and creativity as a worker, paid in glass chandeliers instead of wages, hangs them in trees to sell them, finding beauty in this pragmatic and poetic solution. 'Screens' is a diary-like collage of short film sequences and text fragments, with 18 selected videos since 1999, framed by Keith Jarrett's interpretation of Shostakovich.

The Secession provides information about visiting hours and ticketing details via a link to their shop. General admission and booking information can be found through their official channels, but specific pricing or booking requirements for this exhibition are not detailed on this page beyond a general link to purchase tickets. The page notes 'di-so / 10-18 uhr' which indicates opening days and times for visits.