The exposition of the K35 gallery stand in 2022 turned to the existential theme of the "end" and examined it from various sides: as a point of no return to the past; as the emergence of the need to search for new ideals and the formation of space for the emergence of something new.
Works from two painting projects of the famous master of the industrial genre, Ilya Gaponov, were presented at the stand. In the paintings of the series "Industrial Archeology", the artist focuses with a certain degree of sympathy and longing on the phenomenon of the metamorphosis of cultural memory: from giving an object significance to its depreciation and destruction. The main characters here are the masterpieces of constructivism hidden in vast territories of industrial production, preserved or surviving the last years. Once admired minds by the power of engineering and architectural thought, today they are in oblivion of the post-Soviet world. All the structures in Gaponov's paintings acquire a sacred and mystical meaning: having lost their original function, their status and interest from the public, they turned into crumbling witnesses of a bygone era. The second series, picking up a given theme, but revealing it in a different way - "Tuscany". Monumental canvases depicting gradually fading persimmon trees demonstrate their last days before the end of the flowering season and the beginning of frost. The already leafless dry branches of shrubs are hung with not yet fallen, juicy fruits, as if serving as proof of the outgoing vitality. Soon they will succumb to the inevitable process of withering, but in Gaponov's paintings they will forever remain symbols of rebirth, which will surely happen as soon as the cold weather ends.
The works of the Essentuki author Andrey Novikov continued the series "Cultural Layer", fully presented at the artist's personal exhibition at the A.V. Shchusev State Museum of Architecture. In it, the author reveals the given topic of "Destruction", leading a conversation about the crisis of modern civilization and the search for new heroes and landmarks. His canvases demonstrate collective images of characters free for interpretation against the background of architectural ruins, which here are the personification of the old world "with a heap of problems and archaic attitudes." In his works, Novikov does not give specific answers, but for several years, acutely aware of the general condition, he states the diagnosis of time - the need for renewal.
The third author whose works will be presented at the stand will be St. Petersburg artist Sergey Kolosov. His sculptures of the "Half-life" series of broken glass refer to the themes of the universe and the cosmos. They symbolize the imprinted result of the release of energy, not amenable to any regulation. Glass fragments, like fractals with the property of self-similarity, independently draw a further image, gathering in a chaotic order. Unpredictably combining from the destroyed particles, they turn into a source of unbridled dynamics, creating a separate, new world.
A well-known Russian furniture brand, Unika, became a partner who decorated the gallery's stand with his design works for the second time. The laconic forms of Unika furniture combine style and functionality. The brand's philosophy is based on the standards of Scandinavian design, rational approach, naturalness and openness.