Untitled - krinzinger projekte - Galerie Krinzinger

VALERY KOSHLYAKOV16MOSCOW, KREMLIN, CARDBOARDBarbara WittwerThose sleeping under bridges certainlyappreciate the qualities of cardboard.Those selling their wares in the open-airknow the value of a windbreak made ofcardboard. When children build their firstplayhouses, they make them out ofcardboard. Cardboard boxes in the attic –containing books, items no longer used,memories. Cardboard boxes that transportdreams of the “good life” – videorecorders, televisions and kitchenappliances, PC’s or wall units. Whoeversaid cardboard is just cheap packingmaterial to be disposed of after use?Corrugated board is an invaluablyfavourable material, available in enormousquantity, well suited for large areas, easyto transport and fit, flexible and muchmore durable than its reputation suggests.Corrugated board is structured andstable, both warm and soft in itscolourfulness and material effect. Itconsists of little more than surfaces thatdo not take themselves seriously andalways act in the service of what liesbeneath.At the mention of the word “Kremlin”, thelistener sees in his mind’s eye more thangolden domes and towers with the redstar – he also associates the term withRussia’s political seat of power. Anyonewho has been there will also know theMoscow Kremlin as one of Russia’s mostimportant cultural heritage sites.Irrespective of soviet star or double eagle:while emblems may change, such sitesoutlast revolutions.In this sense, the subject of the cardboardpictures is not merely an external ‘postcardmotif’, but a symbol, the weight andsupra-individual, social importance ofwhich have grown in the course of its history.The themes of the picture series arenot arbitrary, but depict places ofidentification, places where history, aesthetics,style and belief are concentrated –in short, places that exude culture.The painting style used in the cardboardpictures is extremely casual, demonstrablymore academic sketch than‘modern art’, uncontemporary to somedegree.Cultural continuity in difficult, painful,exciting times of upheaval: whichcontemporary, modern material couldconvey this theme better than cardboard?right page:VALERY KOSHLYAKOV“Moscow. Kremlin”, 2000mixed media on cardboard340 x 140 cm