How a Russian-speaking artist in the United States explores reality in the context of post-Soviet immigration

The artist Irina Danilova continues the traditions of Russian conceptualism in the USA. With the help of her works, she introduces the people of the Bronx to modern conceptualism. This publication writes "Voice of America".

On the ground floor of the Bronx River Art Center (BRAC) building on East Tremont Street in the Bronx, there is a gallery with unusual installations. Irina Danilova, an American conceptual artist and exhibition curator who was born in Ukraine, presented her works included in Project 59. She works in collaboration with her husband, a chemical scientist, Hiram Levy.

This art project celebrates its 25th anniversary. In its framework, the artist uses the usual figure as an excuse for creative understanding of the world in multimedia interpretations.

About the artist

Irina Danilova was born, raised and graduated from an art institute in Kharkov, lived and worked in Moscow. In the early 1990s, she emigrated to the United States and completed graduate studies at the Visual Arts Institute (SVA) in New York. Now Irina lives in Brooklyn. Her works were shown in the USA (New York, Minneapolis, Cleveland, Atlanta), Russia, Ukraine, Germany, Bulgaria, Italy, Israel, Iceland.

In 2010, the artist took part in the first Ural Industrial Biennale of Contemporary Art in Yekaterinburg. In 2012, the non-profit humanitarian organization Vilcek Foundation, which celebrates the merits of immigrants in the field of art and sciences, named her artist of the year. Danilova's works were also exhibited at the Center for Contemporary Art and the Regina Gallery in Moscow.

About Project 59

According to the artist herself, initially Project 59 was designed for one year - 1995, when she was in graduate school. "59" is a permutation of the last two digits of the year. But she then clearly underestimated the potential capacity of the project. It continues to this day, and the retrospective exhibition in the Bronx contained only a part of installations and art objects, ”the message says.

One of the most significant installations, occupying almost the entire wall of the large hall, is called Drawings of Cities (2009-2015). It depicts the "technological" traces of Irina and Hyrum's car movement along a certain route in 59 cities of the USA and other countries. To create such a picture, the routes were first "drawn" by the motion navigators, then copied, enlarged and edited for installation.

The artist also explores the contours of their travels in each city. So, the outline of Munich reminds her of a burgher with a beer, the silhouette of a figure in Detroit resembles a car gear, in Milan it resembles a Romanesque style, and in Zurich it resembles a Gothic one.

Now, according to the artist, she is engaged in a similar project, but this time moves around the city on foot.

The Adventures of the Artist

In 1996, Irina found on the map the point of intersection of the 59th meridian with the 59th parallel and after some time went there for a walk. The path was long and took 11 hours - this point is located in the Urals, in a deserted taiga.

In December 1998, she decided to dive to a depth of about 20 meters. The performance took place in Rockland, Maine. The water was very cold, so Irina put on a thermal suit for divers. She was not preparing to dive, she only listened to a short briefing. The artist measured the depth with a tied weight.

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In August 2019, the artist conquered airspace. She jumped out of an airplane over Pennsylvania with an experienced instructor. Irina flew a few kilometers in free fall to the salvage opening of the parachute, fixing a height of 5900 feet during the fall. The instructor, with a camera attached to his hand, photographed the jump.

Collections associated with the number 59

In the "Project 59", according to the artist, there are many diverse collections, one way or another connected with this figure. For example, she created a collage installation from fragments of leaflets and brochures in which the desired figure appeared.

On another collage - a lot of the same orange squares-stickers. Having waited until May 9, Irina and her husband went to the Whitney Museum of American Art at the Biennale, where the date in American letters 5/9 was printed on the entrance stickers. According to the artist, she asked visitors to give her tickets and explained why. As a result, a line of people wishing to give their stickers to the good work of art was lined up for her.

The book of the anthology of world poetry is another creation of the artist's hands. It contains 59 poems by 59 classical poets, the book contains only 59 pages, "borrowed" from various editions.

The anthology of world philosophy is likewise constructed. Danilova has been talking with a modern philosopher for several years. He sends her questions, and she also answers by e-mail. This dialogue will end when Irina answers his 59th question.

“You can't look at some of the exhibits without smiling. Humor, ironic reflection is an expected reaction. The new US national flag naturally contains 59 stars. The viewer can select and "attach" to the map of the United States individual countries that may become missing states. The collection also contains a $ 59 denomination of the national currency, ”the newspaper writes.

Other mini-projects

The creative and inventive artist also has a variety of mini-projects. They include special dinners, culinary briefings and other promotions. And everywhere under this or that sauce, sometimes literally, the number 59 is indicated.

“At one of the previous exhibitions in Bushwick (Brooklyn district), she“ embroidered ”numbers 5 and 9 through three parallel walls with a thick rope, with 5 on one side of the installation and 9 on the other. The rope passed through the holes in the corners of these figures. Somehow this concept reminded of the famous installation by the father of the avant-garde Marcel Duchamp, when he literally entangled the entire exposition with twine, ”the message says.

What the curators of the exhibition say about the artist

The exhibition has two curators - Yulia Tikhonova and Olga Kondur. According to Tikhonova, Danilova occupies a unique place among the predominantly male artists who left the oppressive and isolating reality of Soviet society for America. The most famous of them are Ernst Neizvestny, Komar and Melamid, Ilya Kabakov.

Also, the curator added, the artist continues the traditions of Russian conceptualism. In it, as in social art, very often a reflection is felt about the total absurdity of "socialist reality."

BRAC director Gail Nathan noted that she was pleased with the fact that a personal exhibition of the Russian artist was held. According to Gail, this is the first time this has happened in the center's practice. They have known each other for a long time - over the years Irina read lectures at the center, acted as a curator and participant in a collective exhibition of immigrant artists from Eastern Europe.

Nathan is an artist herself, heading BRAC since 1999. She is proud to be actively involved in a massive $ 11 million renovation project for the art center building. According to her, it should become an informal center of cultural life in the Bronx and attract the youth of this borough of New York.

Danilova, in turn, considers it important that the ecological cleaning of this not-so-prosperous area is accompanied by the active involvement of art professionals in the work of the art center. Irina chose as her motto the phrase of one of the pillars of pop art Robert Indiana: "My job as an artist is to make words and numbers special."

The artist notes that “Project 59” is “a convenient and flexible experimental digital project in our digital era.” “She perceives today's reality in the context of post-Soviet immigration,” says Tikhonova. “When thousands of Russians flocked to the United States after the collapse of the Soviet Union, she felt a need for reflection on cultural shock and the difficulties of entering a different life.”

According to the curator of the exhibition, Danilova has many layers in her game with numbers. She turns any detail of reality into an object of art, and the way Danilova does this is amazing and inspiring.