Katya Yu. And A.S.:Sandbox

About the exhibition

The Moscow Museum of Modern Art and the Free Workshops School of Contemporary Art present the Sandbox exhibition, a joint project of two Workshops students: A. S. and Katya Yu. The exhibition is held as part of the MMOMA Young Art Support Programme.

During the run of the exhibition, the museum halls will turn into a children's playground, a space of freedom and creativity. The artists explore the childhood feeling of endless summer holidays and all its elements, which stay with us in adulthood, often unnoticed. Summer is a sacred period for any child. Children are freed from daily routine and plunge into a natural and familiar environment, where they explore a boundless world with its own rules and rituals. Any place around them turns into a playground and gives each participant-player space for research, discovery and self-expression.

The exhibition presents 14 works by two artists, from paintings to installations. The artists use different techniques to explore the phenomenon of childhood with its world of imagination. For example, in the work On the Other Side A.S. offers to find a non-existent key to a closed door, which hides a long-lost world of dreams, while in the work Chronicles, made in collaboration with Katya Yu., the artists use the ornaments on layered old wallpaper to draw attention to the important issue of intergenerational relationships.

Childhood memories often emerge as a fairy-tale-like mirage, the reality behind which is hard to identify. These images are reconstructed from fragments, sensations and feelings that immerse one into a state of sleep or déjà vu. In it, children's toys, objects and things eventually lose their functionality and turn into symbols that change their meanings and acquire new ones.

About the artisis

A.S. is the pseudonym of the artist Alexander Sokolov, whose career began in street art and gradually evolved into conceptual painting and installations. In his works, Alexander explores cultural phenomena and social issues. In creating artworks, he strives to reveal the essence of objects or phenomena and free them from the pile-up of symbols and signs. Alexander's works encourage audiences to reflect and see familiar things in a new light.

Katya Yu. is the pseudonym of the artist Ekaterina Yushko. Having graduated from the Russian State Stroganov University of Industry and Applied Arts as a communicative designer, Ekaterina pursued painting and discovered neo-expressionism, through which she explores individuality, society and her own inner experiences. Ekaterina's career began in the fashion industry (internship at Vogue Russia, jobs at The Blueprint and TSUM as a stylist) and then moved into art, with the fabric becoming her main medium. In her works, snippets, as a symbol of chaos and order, turn into abstract landscapes that merge the inner and outer worlds of a human being. Ekaterina sees fabric as the chronicles of time that reflect fashion, social changes and environmental issues.

About the school

The School of Contemporary Art Free Workshops is an educational platform of the Moscow Museum of Modern Art for young artists and curators. It was founded in 1992 by a group of artists and art historians, including Alexander Ponomarev, Vladimir Kupriyanov, Vladimir Nasedkin, and Moscow State University professors Vera Dazhina and Valery Turchin. The students attend workshops of the best speakers, successful cultural leaders, well-known philosophers, and theorists of contemporary art. Through the educational programme, young artists and curators immerse themselves in the art world, participate in workshops, group exhibitions and festivals. Being a part of the Museum, Free Workshops offer their audience a unique opportunity to study theoretical and practical aspects of contemporary art while being in its epicentre. At every stage of their journey the artists are supported by the Museum and the School. They are encouraged to take part in group exhibitions (annual exhibitions of young art, group projects by young curators) and to have solo exhibitions (MMOMA Young Art Support Programme).