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...Molodkin, Russian artist who shares his time between Moscow, New York and Paris. The artist is best known for his three-dimensional pieces consisting of oil barrels and pipes connected to transparent acrylic boxes half-filled with Chechen or Iraqi oil. Each has a hollow sculpture or phrase inside. The phrases ("Support our troops," "Democracy," etc.) are subversive in the sense that, in the court of art, official demagoguery cannot "take the Fifth" to avoid testifying against itself. Although the images tend to be deconstructive, they nonetheless skillfully combine anarchy with order, or defiance of the status quo with aesthetic standards, thereby turning the opposites into connected vessels. What this artist aims to expose is the export of democracy for oil's sake--a gauntlet Molodkin throws down in the face of the political establishment and the culture industry, knowing that the biggest art collectors in Russia (and not only in Russia) are oil tycoons who often sponsor political extremism and identify with the powers that be.
On one hand, oil is the most ancient of resources;...
NOTE: All illustrations and photos
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More articles from C: International Contemporary Art
Kristan Horton: an image of sculpture.(contemporary artists), September 22, 2006
Daniel Olson: Beside Myself., September 22, 2006
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