Anton Andrienko

Pattern

Anton Andrienko

Pattern

Multimedia Art Museum Moscow and the Rodchenko Art School present Anton Andrienko’s show ‘Pattern’. The exhibition marks the beginning of a long-term project, ‘Rodchenko Art School at МАММ’, which will allow visitors to get to know the artists that the School and the Museum are already proud of today, and who are far ahead of the artistic landscape of recent years.

Anton Andrienko’s project studies the phenomenon of the ‘pattern’ — the regularly repeating scheme or image in which each of us exists. Natural, social and cultural patterns make up our reality. They lie at the foundation of the collective memory of mankind, including traditions and rituals, art and high technologies. To a greater or lesser extent, patterns shape our identity, aesthetic tastes, and means of interacting with the surrounding world by offering a choice of stereotypical behavioural reactions and solutions.

Andrienko’s project focuses on the visual patterns of contemporary Russian everyday life. In 2018, the artist made photographs for several months in different areas of Moscow, ‘collecting’ clothes ornaments and trying to analyse the meaning and nature of patterns. The resulting set of over 200 photos gives a visual representation of pattern thinking and its impact on our (un)conscious choice. The artist says that the pattern interests him first and foremost ‘as a metaphor of cyclicity and endless repetition. Patterns or mental templates influence people’s choice of clothing. As a result, people become patterns of sorts, receding into the background of everyday reality. Patterns all around, patterns in your mind, patterns on your body.’

Anton Andrienko (b. 1993) is studying at the Rodchenko Art School (Valery Nistratov’s Documentary Photography Workshop, third year). He has participated in the exhibitions ‘Rodchenko Art School: Selected Works’ (Multimedia Art Museum, Moscow, 2018), ‘Class Collection’ (Winzavod Center for Contemporary Art, 2018), ‘Anything Else?’ (Elektrozavod Gallery, 2019), ‘Pro et contra’ (ArtPlay, Saint Petersburg, 2019), ‘Gastronomy for the Eyes’ (solo show at the Rodchenko Art School, 2019) and others. He is working as a freelance photojournalist for the Internet publications The Wall Magazine and Meduza.

The Rodchenko Art School has existed since 2006 as a structural unit of MAMM. Since then the school has consistently played a crucial role in the development of Russian art and been actively involved in international art processes. Within its walls artists are trained as professionals in the field of photography, and also in contemporary art processes using other media. Students and graduates of the school regularly participate in Russian and international exhibitions and festivals (including the Venice Biennale, the Rencontres d'Arles Photography Festival, the International Short Film Festival in Oberhausen, the Hong Kong Arthouse Film Festival, ARTAGON (Paris), ViennaPhotoBookFestival, International Month of Photography in Moscow ‘Photobiennale’, and the Moscow International Biennale ‘Fashion and Style in Photography’). They number among the laureates of such prestigious awards as World Press Photo, the Rencontres d'Arles Book Awards, the Kandinsky Prize, the State Innovation Prize, the Sergey Kuryokhin Prize, and others.