— Tell us about the new space in your gallery. How did the idea come about, what was the reason?

— The gallery has existed for 12 years; we started on one floor, then began to grow. Now the first and second floors are an exhibition space, plus there is an office and storage area, where some collectors also look. We recently realized that we didn’t have a space where we could invite guests to socialize in a calm and cozy atmosphere - so we decided to create one.

— So this was a customer need?

— Yes. It’s easier to look at art in the interior: you see how this or that work is built into your house or apartment. We show works not just on a white wall, but integrated into a cozy interior. IN Collector's Lounge We create a free atmosphere and will hold friendly and private meetings there.

We were the first to have dinner here Be Curious Martell performed by the St. Petersburg duo of chefs Duoband— Dmitry Blinov and Renat Malikov ( Tartarbar, Duo gastrobar). We gathered friends, collectors. We tried out the new space and had a great time. In the future, we plan to organize lectures and fashion shows here; we are already being contacted by brands that want to hold events in galleries or, in principle, collaborate with art. We will also hold chamber exhibitions in a closed format and create a club system. There are a lot of ideas, and I don’t want to reveal everything right now.

— How do you select artists for the gallery? Do you focus on young authors?

— We are engaged in conceptual contemporary art, and our artists are completely of different ages. Stas Bags was probably the youngest; we were just starting to work then. Now the age range starts at 25-26, although some of our artists are already over 70.

— In my understanding, you can still be a young artist at 70, if you’re just starting out.

— Certainly. We know great examples of artists, designers, and architects who create their first masterpieces as adults.

If there is nothing to cling to, it is impossible to grow something from it.

— How do you determine the artists that suit you? Are there certain criteria they must meet?

— I think this is to some extent intuition. At Marina's ( Vinogradova, art director of the gallery, approx. ed.) excellent art history education, everyone in our team has a similar background. Except me. I originally had a financial and economic education.

When choosing artists - and for working in a gallery in general - a certain amount of observation is very important. There is an understanding of what it is modern Art, what are the criteria, how to meet them.

In order for us to start working with an artist, the puzzle must come together: relevance, the feeling that it will be interesting in the West, it is important and to be in the right place in right time. But the artist and his work are still at the head. If there is nothing to cling to, it is impossible to grow something from it. The viewer, the collector, the gallery owner must believe in you.

In finding “our” authors, we are helped by a competition for young artists, which we are holding for the sixth time. Together with the jury, we are reviewing the applications, this time about 350 of them arrived! Some are cut off immediately, but you can also find very interesting projects.

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— I would like to learn more from you about this competition.

— The competition is called “New projects for Anna Nova Gallery”. We are interested in third-party objective assessment and form an independent jury, together with whom we select the winning project. ( This year's graduate won IPSI Alice Kern, whose exhibition will take place in the fall of 2017 - approx. ed.).

It all started very easily and organically, as if a puzzle had come together. A gallery opened, and Katya Andreeva worked for us at the time, who selected artists and organized a competition. She came up with the first topics and drew up its regulations. And then it fit so organically into our existence that it began to develop on its own. This is the sixth competition in 12 years - and we see strong changes. From local it has become international: applications come from Turkey, Belgium, and the USA. An international jury also helps with this; serious names attract artists. This year we had Caroline Christov-Bakargiev on the jury, she oversaw the 13th Document, Joanna de Vos, Belgian curator and co-curator of Jan Fabre's exhibition Hermitage. There were also Dmitry Ozerkov and Valentin Dyakonov.

— And in the future? Can the competition be created as a separate organization?

— I wouldn’t refuse if I took it upon myself, for example, "Manege". I would like to leave the competition in good hands. Or do it with someone. Nastya Kuryokhina has a wonderful award... It’s already difficult for us to do everything on our own. We have a board of trustees, an exhibition, an award. We give artists the opportunity to go on residency and make an additional exhibition - at the discretion of the board of trustees. Which, by the way, has only been in existence for two years. There should be more grants and competitions for artists in our country.

— You are participating in the Cosmoscow fair. Is this fair about image for you? Or is it also a profitable business?

— It turned out that for us the last two fairs Cosmoscow very profitable, in general the entire stand is for sale. Paintings by Dashevsky, Kulkov, objects Aljoscha are of great interest to Moscow collectors, both experienced and beginners.

And not only our regular collectors buy, but also those from whom you would not expect. Interest in contemporary art is increasing on the domestic market, which makes me very happy - we see that all our efforts are bearing fruit. We work hard to make contemporary art more in demand. Our activities are missionary to some extent: in addition to the competition, we hold round tables, meetings, and hold exhibitions outside the gallery. We recently went to Sochi, where we held an exhibition. Now in Sochi they want to cooperate with us so that we can continue to organize exhibitions, they want to exhibit public art on their sites.

Artist's work Aljoscha(Alyosha)

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— But is this a private interest? Private company?

— Yes, still private.

— I also wanted to discuss summer period in St. Petersburg. It's strange that all the houses there haven't been turned into hotels yet, because this time of year is really very active. Do you have a lot of, so to speak, “random” clients coming to you in the summer? That is, tourists?

— Yes. I went and bought it. This is normal practice for Europeans; we are 50 years behind.
— And such tourists then return, who accidentally came?

— So far, in my opinion, it hasn’t happened. But we communicate, make contact, send information.

— Yes, that's absolutely correct. For comparison, I have not heard such stories about Moscow galleries, and they usually close for the summer.

— We had the same practice, we closed for August. For the first five years we worked in this mode, and then I realized that in St. Petersburg this is the only time when something is actively happening. It’s better to go on vacation, say, in February.

— Where would it be more interesting for you to move next - Europe, Asia..?

— America is in our plans. However, Asia is also interested in Russian art. I didn’t even think that they were so attracted to our art; usually they support, develop, and buy their own. In Asia now there is generally a strong interest in culture; they are ready to invest in all world-class brands that have good profitability.

— But are you still thinking about America?

— According to statistics, Asia has the largest art market. It’s just that participation is expensive for us. We would like to travel everywhere as much as possible, but since the state does not provide any support, we need to somehow decide this ourselves, and logistics are still too expensive for us.

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— Work by artist Aljoscha (Alyosha)

— Which artists do you want to work with in the future? Will you be working with Russian artists abroad? We want to show good art, we don't have the goal of just showing Russian artists

. We would also like to cooperate with some galleries that are either higher rated or on a par with us. And maybe join our efforts to get more coverage. Aljoscha We do such projects periodically - this summer we worked with Americans, we previously worked with Polish artists, with French ones, last year we collaborated with (Alyosha). He is originally from Ukraine, but has lived in Germany for many years. His exhibition, by the way, was one of the most visited; people came who probably didn’t even know about the existence of the gallery Anna Nova

— . With his bright, unusual objects he attracted young people and students.

Yes, we need to educate young collectors correctly.

Gallery Anna Nova Founded:

St. Petersburg, 2005 Creator:

Anna Nova— about his own motives for engaging in contemporary art, the formation of a gallery eco-system, non-standard approaches and ideal collectors.

From “a passionate childish desire to help” to hundreds of exhibitions

In 2004-2005, when it became clear that we were opening a gallery, there was a feeling that I was floating with the flow in a certain stream, as if something was happening independently of me and I was acting as a kind of guide. At that time, I began to actively meet people from the world of art and design; designer Dmitry Sharapov, artists Vladimir Dukhovlinov, Alexander Gerasimov, Vyacheslav Mikhailov appeared in my life - the gallery practically did not work with them, but my acquaintance with art began with these artists . Through Dmitry Sharapov, I met Natalia Ershova, and we had a joint idea to open a contemporary art gallery.

At first I wasn't sure if this was the path for me, but I always liked helping talented people and supporting them. My memories of my paternal grandfather and my father’s brother, Uncle Sasha, who were members of the Union of Artists, also played a role here. Although I was still a child in the 1980s, I remember well how difficult it was for artists at that time and how little room there was for self-expression. Now, knowing the history of our country and the complex relationship between art and Soviet power, I assess the situation more soberly, but it was this passionate childhood desire to help artists realize their talent in the future that greatly influenced my decision to engage in the difficult gallery business.

At the very beginning, I didn’t quite understand what it would grow into and what awaited me in the future, but I met people in whom I believed. The support of both my husband and Natalia Ershova, who became the art director of the gallery and assembled the team, became a kind of foundation for me. This initiative has grown into a large-scale project. Over the course of 15 years, the team changed more than once, and the gallery began to seem to live on its own. This is what happens when a mother gives birth to a child: at first you feel like something is very important and you are very worried about responsibility (“did you do the right thing?”), but then the process starts, and you find yourself not only a participant in it, but also a student. I learned from my mistakes, new experiences appeared, new knowledge, new sensations, new perceptions - figuratively speaking, I began to walk again. Looking back, I see what a colossal path has been traveled: more than 100 exhibitions were held, we participated in more than 20 fairs, organized 7 competitions for young artists and published 9 issues of Booklet magazine.

Each stage of these fifteen years gave something for my personal development and for the development of the gallery. At first I was more of an observer, a spectator and, perhaps, a motivator - I did not interfere with the team in which I had complete trust. The right step was to invite art critic Ekaterina Andreeva; for the first five years she was actually the commissioner of the gallery, and we relied on her vision. Our first project was an exhibition of Elena Figurina, and a few years later we had the courage to pay attention to young conceptual artists who were not yet on the Russian art scene in 2005.

My real acquaintance with contemporary art began in the early 2000s, when I first went to the Venice Biennale and ARCO. Completely opened up for me new world, and I wanted to change the Russian situation for the better. After 15 years, I understand that this is exactly what we are doing: making our contribution to the development of contemporary art.

About the partnership between the gallery and the artist

Let's take the artists with whom we are currently working - Denis Patrakeev, Vlad Kulkov, Alexander Dashevsky, Egor Kraft... There are only 10-15 names, and they represent different directions, because we want to show different artists. If there were a hundred galleries in St. Petersburg that specialized in areas, then we would probably focus on one, but we have very few galleries in the city, practically none, so we take on the mission to show the whole variety of current artistic practices. I can't single out just one artist. They are very different not only in technology, but also in relation to their careers: some are Western-oriented, others are more closely connected to the local context. Their strategies may be different, but the “ideal artist” for me is still one who is actively involved in building his own career. He is not passive, he does not expect the gallery to do everything for him - in today's Russian realities this is almost impossible. There must be partnership work, in which both the gallery and the artist each perform their own function, and thereby we motivate each other to move on.

About non-standard approaches and conceptual exhibitions

We were one of the first in St. Petersburg to travel to Western art fairs - we wanted to focus on the world market and promote our artists on the world stage. We continue to do this, despite all the difficulties.

Over the past 15 years, collectors, their tastes and preferences have changed a lot, fairs have become different - now there is more and more need to surprise the public, and often the gallery stand becomes a conceptual exhibition. Sometimes we take risks and create special projects. For example, at the last viennacontemporary we did not take a standard stand; at our request, the organizers for the first time made two long showcases on both sides of the aisle, in each of which we presented a solo show by the artists Aljoscha and Yegor Kraft. It turned out to be two independent exhibitions, united common theme- the theme of the future. There was a dialogue between the two exhibitions, but at the same time they did not interfere with each other. This experiment was very successful and attracted the attention of people who did not expect such a museum presentation at the art fair. Many stopped and asked questions, but not because there was anything incomprehensible - they were interested.

About ideal collectors and all those who care

It seems to me that our collectors lack observation - it is important to travel more around the world, understand and see how private collections are formed in the West. Many also lack a holistic view and strategic thinking. If we call an ideal collector, then in my opinion he is Roman Babichev, although he does not collect contemporary art, his collection is distinguished by high quality works and thoughtfulness of the concept. I will be glad if such people appear in the field of contemporary art in St. Petersburg and begin to contribute to the development of the art market.

Last year at Cosmoscow we were very pleased to see that young people were intensely interested in art and were ready to start buying. We couldn’t even move away from the stand, and our artists were always busy talking with the audience. The public wants to learn about art, is ready to communicate and engages in dialogue, and the fair is one of these opportunities for them. This is a very good recent trend.

I would like to see more collectors. We know young people aged 30-35 who come to the gallery, begin to get involved in contemporary art, ask questions and buy small works. We teach them to collect art - for several years now we have been collaborating with a selected artist, releasing a limited edition of a work as personalized New Year's gifts.

We are building an ecosystem, at the center of which is the gallery, but in parallel with it, our other projects are also developing: the contemporary art magazine Booklet, the Nova Art project competition for young artists, and the online platform 28bugs. Not long ago, a Collectors’ lounge appeared on the third floor of the gallery, where we can interact with people from other fields. Here we hold various events with the goal of conveying to people the value of contemporary art, so that they can understand and experience why it is so important to support it and be part of the exciting artistic process. This helps to form a new collector: those who now contact me and are ready to start collecting art for reputational or investment reasons begin to trust the gallery and our taste. Today the gallery brings together artists, collectors, art connoisseurs, business, the professional community and simply interested, caring people.

About the artist presented at the auction

Anna Nova in her Anna Nova Gallery on Zhukovsky Street, 28, St. Petersburg. In the foreground is Denis Patrakeev’s sculpture “The Flow of the World,” 2017. On the wall is a work by Vlad Kulkov, 2017. S-Chair, design by Tom Dixon, Cappellini.

Architecture, including architecture internal space, similar frozen music. But an art gallery needs complete visual silence so that the art in it can sound loudly and without interference. We find out whether this is so from Anna Nova, the founder of the Anna Nova gallery.

ELLE DECORATION In 2005, St. Petersburg media reported: singer Anna Nova opened a gallery...

ANNA NOVA Yes, I did solo career, also worked as a presenter on the RTG channel. But after finishing music school in the flute class, like many people of my generation, I went to get a diploma in economics.

How did the idea to open a gallery come about? I was always surrounded creative people. As a child, I often visited my uncle, an artist, and was surprised that the serious art that artists practiced was not in demand. Had to earn a living in best case scenario orders for posters. I have always wanted to help artists realize their potential. One day, designer Dmitry Sharapov introduced me to art critic Natalya Ershova and suggested opening a gallery, and that’s how it all began.

By the window is the work of Rostan Tavasiev “Russian Cosmism”, 2015. Armchair made of black plastic and leather Pohjola, design by Pekka Peryo, Haimi Oy, 1965, Finland.

Which artist was invited first? We opened with an exhibition by Elena Figurina, already an iconic artist at that time. The initial concept of the gallery was thought out together with Natalya Ershova and Ekaterina Andreeva, an art critic and leading employee of the Department of Contemporary Trends of the Russian Museum. In 2006, we launched a competition for young artists, and in 2007 we were the first to travel to Western fairs.

In the center is Alexander Dashevsky, “Swimming pool”, 2014. On the left is Rostan Tavasiev, “Episode 2”, 2017. On the table is Denis Patrakeev’s sculpture “Vow of Silence”, 2015. In the background is a carpet, 1960s, Sweden. Pair of plastic armchairs, designed by Yrje Kukkapuro, Haimi, 1964, Finland. Plywood armchair, design by Soren Hansen, Anikarimobel fabrik, 1944, Sweden. Folding bar, Leif Alring for C.F. Christensen, 1964, Denmark.

How did the interior of the Anna Nova gallery begin? Today, almost nothing remains of the original interior. We did not immediately come to the conclusion that the ideal space for a gallery of conceptual contemporary art is an empty white cube. We made a lot of mistakes in the beginning. The reception desk, colored walls, wooden panel and glass partition began to get in the way almost immediately. We needed an empty space that could easily be transformed into lectures and performances. Everything is different now.

The first two floors are a clean space with no distractions. We recently opened a third floor - the collector lounge, where we hold intimate events for collectors. Furniture - classics of American and Scandinavian design - was purchased at auctions. The walls are not white, the multi-layer plaster was made by the artist based on five complex shades.

Sesann sofa and armchair, design by Gianfranco Frattini, Cassina, 1970, Italy. On the wall is the work of Denis Patrakeev “Crossroads”, 2014.

Could a similar gallery appear in the new building? Then it would be necessary to build a separate building in the style of constructivism or minimalism, or play on contrast: old architecture, but inside there is a modern open space.

Summer night rug, designed by Ritva Puotila, 1960s, Finland.

How to choose art for the interior? Many people buy art as a decorative item, focusing primarily on size and color. This is fundamentally wrong. Art requires a conscious approach. You need to walk and look more - develop a taste. And, of course, you should not neglect the practice of renting paintings.

When it comes to hanging pictures, what mistakes are possible? If in doubt, it is worth involving a curator. Main mistake- standard hanging of paintings. There are many ways to make this interesting. For example, combine classical and modern art or combine paintings into panels. But the sense of harmony is important here, as in music. Otherwise, improvisation will turn into cacophony. www.new.annanova-gallery.ru

On the wall is a work by Vlad Kulkov “Untitled”, 2014. The bench is made from a fragment of the original wooden floor, left after the reconstruction of the space.