Overview
Winter Palace references the St. Petersburg palace that served as the official residence of the Russian Emperor from 1732 to 1917. The palace was conceived as a modern town residence incorporated into the fabric of St. Petersburg—a new metropolis rising from the dark wetlands bordering the Baltic.
St. Petersburg soon rivaled even the most splendid cities being erected by powerful European sovereigns---its canals recalling Venice, its grand palaces outshining Versailles. Yet against this backdrop of magnificence and extravagance, of sophistication and manners, was the grim reality of life in Russia and its oppressive culture of feudal servitude still mired in the Middle Ages. As the Winter Palace grew in richness and splendor, so did Russian serfdom.
This led commenters to describe the palace as a place of "gilded squalor” ⎯a lavish stage for masquerade balls, court intrigues, bloody power struggles and regicide. The last Russian regent to lay claim to imperial power was the fated Tsar Nicolas II and the Winter Palace, long the symbol of that power, was to be at the center and catalyst of some of the most momentous happenings in Russia's early 20th century history.
The Exhibition
One may view our own polarized and contradictory time as mirroring the crashing dichotomies that colored 19th Century St. Petersburg. Russia looms large in our nation’s postwar consciousness as the “other”, the ideological disruptor and existential threat to Western cannons and the greater world order. Yet alongside this seeming insatiable appetite for ruthlessness and wealth lies the sublime heights of culture achieved by Russia’s artists, the stark beauty of her winter landscape and the deep passions of her people. The contrasts mystify us. Winter Palace seeks to explore these themes and profundities with works by the artists listed below. Artist works will include paintings, drawings, collage, tapestry, sculpture (indoors and out), dolls and ceramics all displayed within a theatrical staging of palace opulence.
Participating Artists
Jamie Adams, Sunny Chapman, Gigi Chen, Anna Cone, Pablo Garcia, Amani Heywood, Howard Kalish, Julian Kalwinowski, Ariel Kleinberg, Margret Krug, Krista LaBella, Adrian Milton, Shiri Mordechay, Sean O'Connor, Matt Nolen, Andrew Robinson, Carri Skoczek, Manju Shandler
Curated By
Michael Gormley