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[SergeiSK]

What the exhibition people walk hundreds of thousands or even millions? The authors of a new and very interesting Perm newspaper "Sol" held their small study.
During the first three days of the exhibition "Picasso. Moscow was visited by more than 10 thousand people. That is about as much for the same time is in the central McDonald's. But 10,000 - that's nothing.

1.Gunther von Hagens, Body Worlds
Since 1995, more than 50 cities around the world.
Total: more than 26 million viewers.
Record attendance: 17,642 people per day.
Hagens, the doctor of anatomy, creatively reconceived his scientific discoveries, regularly receives from the public: that of the general immorality of the creative method, for the illegal purchase of materials for installations in Kyrgyzstan, China and Russia. Invented by a doctor in 1978, the method of plastination (preserving dead tissue) for a long time been used for educational purposes - for medical students. Only in 1990 was Hagens displays human corpses as art objects.
Fuck, deejaying in poker or make a triple toe loop - they literally missed first trimester of the body, in pieces of bones, muscles and tendons, were touring exhibition Body Worlds. We watched it for about 30 million people worldwide. A hybrid of theater, circus and Kunstkammer, which Hagens has turned anatomy, as it turned out, can bring people together almost as efficiently as popular sotsset.
Hagens idea (not counting the commercial component) - in essence, pure demonstration of the possibilities of working with "material". And if possible not less impressive than the material itself: namely, that juggles Hagens tissues and organs, pulling on the surface of soft tissue, exposing the bone, leaving bits of skin point.
The impression all this makes ambiguous. Here and nauseating aftertaste, and areal desire to see what they talk so much, and aesthetic pleasure from a combination of form, color and texture, and anger from the frank cynicism of the author. In general, the attraction Hagens works most closely resembles a parody of kontepmorari art.

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Meanwhile, in the middle of March in the zoo Germanic Neunkirchen city opened a new exhibition plastinatov. At this time, Gunther von Hagens engaged animals. Let's see who will win more viewers - skinned carcass of a bull, a shark in formaldehyde or plastinirovannye giraffe with an elephant.

2.Jeff Koons in Versailles
September 2008 - January 2009, Versailles.
Total: about a million people.
Record attendance: about 6,000 people a day.
What could cause a rally in memory protection of King Louis XIV while the request to extend the show? As it turned out, this is quite small, but very blatant exhibition of Jeff Koons in the royal apartments and gardens of Versailles. Koonce then the most expensive of living artists. Two of his work with the ridiculous name - "Flower of the balloon" and "Suspended heart" - went for about $ 14 million each. According to the yearbook Artprice Koons took first place in the rating of Top-500 of the most successful contemporary artists.
Almost a million people went to look at these wonders of art business. And not even the scandalous and candid series of "Made in Heaven" with his ex-wife Koons porn star Cicciolina, and "Lobster", a marble bust, a self-portrait and another 13 giant sculptures (from children's inflatable toys, realistically implemented in the steel to porcelain figures over-age). "Inflatable dog" - next to the masterpieces of Veronese, "Suspended Heart" - on the staircase of the Royal, the famous "Rabbit", a copy of which participated in the formulation of Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragseta Drama Queens and swinging voice of Kevin Spacey with masterpieces by Giacometti and Warhol - in Salon Plenty. For reproduction of platitudes from Koons is an entire team of thirty people, and the artist himself believes that his work is very close to the work of the craftsman: they say, take heart in the manufacture 6500 working hours or try to find technology to make a sculpture of Michael Jackson from china in human growth.
This Kunes helped make Disneyland not only the reputation of a scoffer of art, but more than 81 million euros. A former broker on Wall Street managed to run into the inner sanctum of European culture is not something we were talking about finances. In Versailles, built in the XVII century and became a symbol of wealth and extravagance, screaming and deliberately tasteless work facing millions, looks like a nouveau riche in aristocratic society, or, in general, as a modern tourist in slapping at Versailles.
Virtually every interview Koons results in vigorous Protestant sermon that dreams come true. It it not only that an American, producing a desperate kitsch mixed in with pornography, was the preserve of Fine Arts, but that all works Koons - it was his own or someone else's dream come true. And "the new Sun King at Versailles," as he christened the newspaper Le Figaro, was not joking when he says that the baroque surroundings of the palace - the ideal context for the understanding of the philosophical nature of his work.

3. 2-I Photobiennial PhotoQuai
September - November 2009, Paris.
Total: 419,256 people.
Record attendance: 7,868 people per day.
2-I Photobiennial PhotoQuai in Paris is more than outstripped by the number of spectators, even the main event in the art world - the Venice Biennale, which, moreover, last year was regarded as the most popular in the history of its existence. And although local media PhotoQuai hardly aroused interest (presumably because of the fact that it did not take part of our photographers), its specificity of Russia more than close. Although this Photobiennial and passes in fact that neither is a European city, it is dedicated exclusively to the "non-Western" photos. And as we know, despite the fact that Russia is playing in the European Football Championship for France, it is not Europe - for example, no discount Russian student ticket to the Louvre does not get it.
Curator with a very correct name - Anahita Ghabayan Etehadih - Iranian gallery owner and founder of the Silk Road photo gallery in Tehran, selected for the main project 50 participants from 32 countries. Moreover, none of the photographers had never exhibited in Europe.
Despite the pathos of internationalism, equality and fraternity, there is something colonial in principle, the selection of participating countries and areas for exhibitions. And they have been selected on the basis of which parts of the world represented in the Museum of non-European art at Quai Branly. The main project is located in the garden around the museum and directly from its structure, rhyme - Latin America, Africa, Middle East and so on. Plus, did the "national pavilions: Mexico project exhibited at the Institute of Mexico, Australian - in the Australian Embassy, the Japanese - Japanese Cultural Center. In general, on principle: he named the Mongols - Get in Front of the Mongolian folk art.
Every time you hear about the exhibition by photographers from the third world, imagine the regular shooting reportage about the poor or portraits of Aboriginal people in folk costumes. And like it in order to avoid these clichéd "tourist" images, photographers in each country selected the local curator. Will not work: for the most part banal imagery, modern Academic, plenty of Photoshop and undue mannerism. Naturally, there were also interesting works, built not on special effects or fondly ethnography. For example, an Iranian photographer Gohar Dashti made an interesting staging project about a young Arab couple, equips family life on the battlefield, surrounded by tanks and soldiers, in an atmosphere of absurdity and alienation. A Chinese photographer A Yean removed pictorial series about the life of the last Mongolian nomads. We can mention a few names - Mirto Papadopoulos, Ilan Godfrey, Liu Guang and so forth - but in total does not reach a dozen.
See whether the audience for a standard set of photographs of exotic long-distance trips: children, Sunset, beggars, elephants, and markets? Apparently, yes. But neither the French organizers, nor even the Iranian curator decided not to take the modern "non-Western" art space outside the ethnographic museum - and positioned it primarily as an exotic and peripherals. And while the Biennale, with a long history, just trying to overcome the structure-oriented national representation, PhotoQuai, which opened in 2007, it started with these positions.

4. Banksy Summer Show
June-August 2009, Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery, Bristol.
Total: more than 308,719 people.
Record attendance: 3,859 people per day.
At Bristol City Museum, the state organization, living on money notorious taxpayers, an exhibition of works, which are usually for the same money carefully destroyed. More than a hundred works of art-terrorist and political graffitist Banksy shown in the same space, which previously exhibited by Picasso and Monet. And this despite the fact that not so long ago, Bristol City Council was looking for an artist for vandalism, and he mocked with might and main Banksy academic museums. Think of how he had secretly planted in the British Museum a stone with petroglyphs, depicting the cart at the supermarket (museum officials discovered "remake" only eight days later.)
During the twelve weeks of the exhibition, the author of which nobody even in the face does not know, was attended by around 300 thousand people. To this figure we can safely add almost all the half-million population of Bristol, where Banksy is alive and on the walls of which promptly gives his opinion on many acute political and social issues, whether it be torture of prisoners in Guantánamo Bay or the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Plus - graffiti all over the world who download from the site of Banksy stencils and reproduce it in rats and kissing constables in their area.
As for the exhibition, its preparation was not less conspiratorial than the identity of the artist (which is still almost nothing is known). Within two months, the museum was closed, and I thought that it was prepared, did not know even in the government. Museum Director Kate Brindley says that never talked to Banksy himself, but knows exactly what he was in the brigade trains exhibit.
Banksy is trying to be evil and radical and did fight with demons. His demons are the same - that the police and a supermarket. He banishes them with coarse humor. Works by Banksy are simple to poster, typical of the majority of street artists. Load antique sculpture paper bags, cross the classic still life with the phrase "Here, I drew the line and send it in the trash, bring the robot police on a toy duck and write on his chest Peace - all this is familiar in modern art, liberty, and the ambitions of the audience, apparently, do not get bored and never will be stable to respond in their hearts happy "LOL".
Banksy even painted their stencils several canvases: Riot policemen run on the green lawn, holding hands, a small black rickshaw lucky to have a well-nourished European couple ... The idea is to look at the new trafaretki it in the gallery, in general, a little. But sell it for the money free to see street art there is no effort - the entrance to the exhibition all the time was free.

5. "Forbidden Art-2006»
in March 2007, the Museum and community center named after Andrei Sakharov, Moscow.
Total: 1020 persons.
Record attendance: 50 people daily.
The hysteria surrounding the exhibition "Forbidden Art 2006" is associated not with high attendance (all passed discreetly, without banner-headlines), and high citation rates and the enormous resonance: walked a little, but talking a lot, and still speak. The trial of the organizers of the exhibition Andrei Erofeev and Yuri Samodurov - open wound of national art community and the ongoing cultural and political scandal. The idea to gather in one project work, not allowed to be shown in Moscow's museums and galleries, resulted in the fact that the curator of the Sakharov Center and charged with inciting religious hatred.
A small volume show only lasted a about three weeks and, as often happens with projects not tied to such popular brands as "winery" or "Garage", by definition, could not be focused on a wide range of viewers. Nevertheless, the crusade of ultra-Orthodox organizations (People's Cathedral ", initiated the establishment of the case and its transfer to the court, back in 2003 destroyed the exhibition" Caution, Religion! ") On contemporary art, which" corrupts the morals of the Muscovites and their culture ", became one of the most debated topics in the network. Search Engines on the request for the "issue more than a million references.
A year of public hearings in Tagansky court gave rise to serious public debate and outside the blogosphere. Secret censorship, the limits of what is permissible for an artist, power relations and the arts, the possibilities of dialogue between artist and audience - all of these common questions posed by a chamber exhibition, suddenly emerged in the top most discussed. And apart from the enrichment media space cheerful lyrics and violent actions, yet actualized genre judicial figure - an artist Victoria Lomasko makes great comics of all meetings.
Will this debate on the outcome of the case (and the court is still ongoing) - has not yet completely clear. Star of the defense witnesses (and in this capacity poet Lev Rubinstein and artists Dmitry Gutow, Simon Faibisovich, Dmitry Vrubel and many others) did not impress the judge Svetlana Alexandrov. In contrast to the expert opinions of the prosecution. Quote of the way, want to infinite (as they are imbued with Gogol syurom and logically unpredictable). Whether it's a psychological Victor Slobodchikov that the work of Alexander Kosolapov "McDonald's Advertising" causes the viewer with moral suffering. Or the general conclusion of an art critic Natalia Eneev of works in which the image of Christ replaced by the image of Mickey Mouse, where a "working point is the nominal meaning of the term" mouse ".

Olga Wade
(Newspaper "Salt, 17 May 2010)
http://www.saltt.ru/node/1008