The 9th International Contemporary Art Fair Cosmoscow, which will be held in the Moscow Gostiny Dvor (4, Ilyinka St) on September 10–12, 2021, with the support of Ruinart (official partner), Audi Russia (automobile partner), Hutton Development (partner), Breguet (watch partner) and Visa (partner), has announced the full line-up of participants for this year’s edition. 80 galleries, including 16 international members, will present their booths at the fair.

This is the highest number the fair has seen in its history. The visitors of Cosmoscow 2021 will get acquainted with galleries from Austria, Argentina, Belgium, Bulgaria, Estonia, France, Germany, Georgia, Hong Kong, Norway, Poland, Russia, Switzerland, and the United Arab Emirates. Pearl Lam Galleries (Hong Kong) will make its debut at Cosmoscow this year, with it set to play a vital role in building international dialogue and leads to cultural exchange between East and West.

In an effort to cater to the demanding taste of the audience and collectors at the event, the gallery has chosen a strong international body of work to showcase. The booth will feature several landmark works by Zhang Huan, which were previously exhibited at the State Hermitage, as well as a new large-scale work by the renowned Mr. Doodle that has been created specifically for the fair. The gallery owner Pearl Lam will also bring to Moscow the Japanese-British duo Studio Swine, who work at the junction of art, design, and architecture; South African Zanele Muholi whose exhibition has been recently held at Tate Modern in London; and Antony Micallef, two-time winner of the BP Portrait Award, one of the most prestigious competitions in contemporary art.

Pearl Lam Galleries. Zhang Huan, My Winter Palace No.14, 2019 (Silk-screen mounted on carved antique wood door). Courtesy of Pearl Lam Galleries and Zhang Huan Studios

Peres Projects (Berlin) will be taking part in the fair for the third time, with the founders of the gallery Javier Perez and Nick Koenigschnecht also being members of the Cosmoscow expert council. The gallery will present works of Adriana Minoliti, the main project participant at the 58th Venice Biennale, and other artists like Donna Huanca, Manuel Solano, Shota Nakamura, Paolo Salvador and Rebecca Ackroyd. Another representative of the expert council is Olga Temnikova, co-founder of Temnikova & Kasela Gallery (Tallinn). Their gallery booth will display works by Olga Chernysheva, Sonya Yakovleva, Jaanus Samma, and Tommy Cash, who is better known as an Estonian rap singer.

Сцена/szena. Akhmat Bikanov, Untilted, 2020 (Watercolor on paper). Courtesy сцена/szena gallery and Akhmat Bikanov

The DIEHL Gallery (Berlin), which has been a part of the Cosmoscow fair from its launch in 2010, will exhibit works by Martin Razkal, KP Bremer, Olga Chernysheva and Amelie Esterhazy. Cosmoscow will host the Quimera Gallery (Buenos Aires) for the second time, with it presenting five young Argentine artists, each one hoping to make a career both locally and internationally: Alejandro Pasquale, Franco Fasoli, Hernan Soriano, Manuel A. Fernandez and Valentina Ansaldi, whose works were acquired for MMOMA at Cosmoscow 2019.

Ruarts Gallery. Misha Buryj, Clot #33, 2020 (Mixed media). Courtesy: Julia Spiridonova

A new member of Cosmoscow this year is Studiocur/art (Paris), a platform founded by curator Karina El Helou in 2015, whose contemporary art exhibitions in historical buildings help achieve a unique interaction between artists and the audience. The booth will feature works by conceptual artist Laurent Grasso, photographer and filmmaker Nadim Asfar, sculptor Theo Mercier and painter Tom Ellis. Ayyam Gallery (Dubai) is another debutant at the fair. Among the selected participants are the Palestinian photographer Rula Halawani, Iraqi-Palestinian artist Sama Alshaibi, multimedia artist Sadiq Alfraji from the Netherlands, Samia Halaby with her abstract paintings, and Safwan Dahul who will present figurative monochrome canvases.

Lumiere Gallery. Paul Brouns, Fire Escapism II, 2020 (Digital C-print, gallery plexi mount, edition of 5). Courtesy Lumiere Gallery X Paul Brouns

The fair will also feature galleries presenting the works of artists involved in the projects of the Cosmoscow Foundation for the Support of Modern Art. XL Gallery (Moscow) will showcase the work of Artist of the year 2021, Irina Korina, along with the works of Ekaterina Muromtseva and Alexander Povzner. The a-s-t-r-a (Moscow) booth hosts artworks of Maria Agureeva, the winner of Ruinart Art Patronat 2019, as well as Oksana Mas, Dima Hunzelweg, and Dishon Yuldash. The сцена/szena gallery (Moscow) will present metal compositions by Igor Samolyot, the participant of several programs of the Cosmoscow Foundation, who has created works specifically for the fair, referring to the artist’s renowned installations. Visitors will also see works by Akhmat Bikanov and Yevgeny Dedov.

FUTURO Gallery. Natalia Shumskaya, cocoon, 2020 (tapestry, wool). Courtesy FUTURO gallery and the artist

There are also several galleries focused on photography. The exhibition of the Lumiere Gallery (Moscow) includes photos of the young and prominent American fashion photographer Rob Woodcox with his surreal compositions of human bodies, magnetic architectural views by Paul Bruns and ‘Flying Houses’ by Laurent Scheer. In addition, for the first time in Russia, the gallery will display portraits of exotic birds from the ‘Meditations’ series by Alice Zilberberg, as well as dramatic floral still life prints by Anna Halm Schudel. At the booth of the Glaz Gallery (Moscow), along with the works of the legendary Alexander Rodchenko, visitors will see the works of the young photographer Zhenya Mironov and the Asya Gorbacheva and Sakhir Umar duo. The new PENNLAB Gallery (Moscow) will emphasize the promotion of modern Russian photographers by showcasing the works by Alexander Gronsky, Igor Elukov, Nikita Pirogov, Peter Antonov, Anastasia Zider and Dasha Trofimova at their booth.

Glaz Gallery. Zhenya Mironov, Universes on the shelves, 2020 (C-print, white wooden frame, Edition: 3/5). Courtesy of Glaz Gallery and the artist

The Cosmoscow International Contemporary Art Fair designed to unite both Russian and international collectors, gallery owners and artists, was founded by collector and philanthropist Margarita Pushkina in 2010. Since 2014, the fair has been traditionally held in September, finding a fixed time in the international art events schedule. The 8th Cosmoscow International Contemporary Art Fair was held at Moscow Gostiny Dvor (4 Ilyinka Street) with the support of its long-time partners: Cultural Creative Agency (programme partner), Ruinart (official partner), and Audi (automobile partner) from 11 to 13 September 2020 and hosted 9600 visitors: the maximum number of visitors allowed according to ministerial COVID-19 regulations.

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