The House of Ruinart and Cosmoscow Contemporary Art Fair Announce the Winner of the 2017 Ruinart Art Patronat Grant

Cosmoscow
Dec 18, 2017 12:37PM

Krasnoyarsk-born artist Alexey Martins has won the grant

Image courtesy of Cosmoscow.

  The House of Ruinart, Cosmoscow International Contemporary Art Fair and Cosmoscow Foundation for Contemporary Art are delighted to announce the winner of the 2017 Ruinart Art Patronat grant, emerging Russian artist Alexey Martins. The Ruinart Art Patronat grant will allow Martins to execute his proposed Black Diptych (Black Forest and Black Sky) project that will be exhibited for the first time at Cosmoscow in 2018. Martins will also get a chance to visit the House of Ruinart in the Champagne region in France. Born in Krasnoyarsk, Russia, Alexey Martins, who was a nominee of the 2015 Kandinsky Prize (Young Artist – Project of the Year) and is currently collaborating with the Fragment Gallery, Moscow, was selected from a total of 22 artist applications to win the Ruinart Art Patronat grant.

We have repeatedly stated that Cosmoscow is aimed at providing support to contemporary Russian art and emerging artists. I am very happy to notice that through the years this support is becoming more and more targeted. To see how the ideas of artists come to life, and be part of this process is an unparalleled pleasure. I look forward to the forthcoming 2018 edition of Cosmoscow that will feature a new commission by Alexey Martins,” said Margarita Pushkina, Founding Director of Cosmoscow International Contemporary Art Fair and Founder of Cosmoscow Foundation for Contemporary Art.

The Ruinart Art Patronat grant was established by the Cosmoscow Foundation for Contemporary Art in 2017 to offer support to contemporary Russian artists providing them with opportunities to create new work and evolve their practice.

Ruinart’s mission is to provide extensive support to the development process of particular talents and arts in general. Russia’s contemporary art scene contents with the international art world leaders, which is why we are happy to be part of it,” said Svetlana Stishkova, Moёt Hennessy Russia Marketing Director.

The long list for the Ruinart Art Patronat contest included contemporary Russian artists nominated by Cosmoscow exhibitors. Each of the selected artists presented their site-specific project proposals for Cosmoscow 2018 and the winner was voted for by a panel of jury members.

The 2017 Ruinart Art Patronat contest jury panel included: Margarita Pushkina, Founding Director of Cosmoscow; Alexei Maslyaev, Cosmoscow Non-Commercial Programme Curator; Vasili Tsereteli, Moscow Museum of Modern Art Executive Director; Alistair Hicks, internationally acclaimed contemporary art expert; Svetlana Stishkova, Moёt Hennessy Russia Marketing Director.

I was pleasantly surprised to hear that I was awarded with the Ruinart Art Patronat grant. I see it as an opportunity to deliver a project that is very important to me. It’s comforting to know that such ecological projects can spark interest. I’m deeply grateful to the contest’s initiators – the House of Ruinart and Cosmoscow Art Fair, and to Fragment Gallery, for providing me with new opportunities,” said Alexey Martins.

  Martin’s Black Diptych project aims to take a closer look at the new landscape, and to fuel the non- judgmental discussion about the new contexts within the cultural product. The installation includes two parts (Black Forest and Black Sky) placed in two separate spaces welcoming the observer to become a part of the sculpture. Visually identical and reversibly placed parts represent the image of the ruined land, which sprouts other elements as a fungus.

Image courtesy of Cosmoscow.

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Elena Kurbatskaya | +7 916 798 9987 | [email protected]

Cosmoscow
Cosmoscow International Contemporary Art Fair was launched by Russian collector and philanthropist Margarita Pushkina in 2010 and aims to bring together both Russian and international collectors, galleries and artists. Cosmoscow is Russia’s only international art fair taking place every September with its own spot in an international art calendar. The 5th anniversary edition of the fair took place at the Gostiny Dvor on September 8-10, 2017 representing a record number of 54 Russian and international galleries and welcoming 19,200 guests. Over 2,000 people visited Cosmoscow Collectors’ Preview. Established in 2017, Cosmoscow Foundation for Contemporary Art is based on the experience and expertise of the Cosmoscow team, accumulated over many years to combine its non-commercial initiatives. The main objective of the Foundation is the systematic support of contemporary art in Russia, its integration into the international context, the promotion of young artists, and the development of arts philanthropy in Russia. The Foundation supports art prizes, delivers its own projects, and provides direct funding to support unique cultural initiatives. The Foundation carries out activities in the following areas: education; execution (financial support) of certain projects and cultural initiatives, selected on both contest and non-contest basis; purchase of contemporary art works and their donation to museum collections.

Ruinart
The House of Ruinart was established in 1729 in the Age of Enlightenment. In 1896, the House ordered a poster that would glorify the highest quality of Ruinart to a young Czech artist Alphonse Mucha. The work became famous and went down in history as a magnificent example of the Art Nouveau. Since then, the name Ruinart is associated with contemporary art: The House works with the worlds’ best artists and supports large exhibitions around the world. In the last 10 years, in cooperation with Ruinart, such artists as Maarten de Baat, Nacho Carbonell, Gideon Rubin, Herve Van Der Straeten, Pete Hein Eek, George Russell, Hubert le Gall, Erwin Olaf, India Mahdavi, Patricia Urquiola, Nendo, Ron Arad and Jaume Plensa have created a great number of unique works.

Alexey Martins
Alexey Martins was born in Krasnoyarsk in 1989. He graduated from the Faculty of Painting of the Krasnoyarsk Art School and the Free Workshops Contemporary Art School of the Moscow Museum of Modern Art. In 2015, Martins was nominated for the Kandinsky Prize (Young Artist. Project of the Year nomination) for his joint performance How to Talk about Art to the Siberian City prepared together with the artist Igor Lazarev. Alexey’s portfolio includes over 20 group exhibitions and four solo shows. He has participated in the 3rd Moscow Biennale of Young Art, the 12th International Festival of Landscape Objects, and the 7th Moscow International Biennale of Contemporary Art.


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