21 Oct 2011

Station Museum of Contemporary Art: CRUDE - Andrei Molodkin

The Station Museum of Contemporary Art wishes to announce its upcoming exhibition, CRUDE featuring the works of Andrei Molodkin. The opening reception will be Saturday, November 5, 2011, from 7 - 10pm. At the same time we will introduce to Houston the extraordinary musical group Mariachi Las Coronelas de Vanessa del Fierro.

Andrei Molodkin is an internationally-recognized contemporary Russian artist engaged in deconstructing and reconstructing the aesthetics of geopolitical praxis. The exhibition consists of his monumental ballpoint pen drawings and his factory-made sculptures containing crude oil, both of which articulate the space between authoritative politics and the people's rights.

Molodkin's visual and conceptual strategies recall some of the basic principles of Constructivist Art, the early 20th century Russian avant-garde movement that upheld art as the provenance of social harmony and that focused on utopian ideals, production, and process as well as by the search for pure feeling. Expanding on these theories and practices, Molodkin pushes beyond the boundaries of Constructivist Art and Minimal Art by engineering hollow acrylic forms to which he adds crude oil and a complex network of pumps, hoses, and barrels. These installations create an environment that radicalizes the dynamic between the artwork and the viewer.

Crude oil, in all its manifestations as energy, petroleum, natural gas, plastics, asphalt, fertilizers, and pesticides, has become the central material and the primary source of the world's wealth. In one of his three-dimensional constructions, Molodkin examines the concept of democracy through the universal vernacular of oil. The work, titled Democracy, then becomes a mirror reflecting the corruption and commodification of the democratic ideal. Like a prismatic chessboard, Molodkin's work addresses our multiple presumptions of political and religious belief systems through spatial solutions and material transformations. His sculptures and drawings articulate the tension between utopian ideals and reality.

CRUDE is a significant exhibition that is relevant to Houston, known as the 'Energy Capital of the World.' It illuminates and elucidates the true role of oil in the modern world.

'Art can shape society, it is the only truth.' - Andrei Molodkin

Andrei Molodkin was born in Boui, Northern Russia, in 1966. He studied at the School of Visual Arts, Boui, Russia, from 1976-1980. He then attended the College of Arts, Krasnoe-on-Volga, Russia, from 1981-1985. From 1985-1987, Molodkin served in the former Soviet Union Army. After his military service, he continued his studies at the Stroganov Art Institute, Russia, from 1987-1992. He represented Russia in the Venice Biennial, Italy, in 2009. Molodkin has had many exhibitions world-wide, and his work is included in many collections in Europe, United Kingdom, Russia, and United States. Currently, Molodkin is exhibiting at the Art Sensus Gallery in London, United Kingdom.

CRUDE will be on view through February 12, 2012. The Station Museum of Contemporary Art is located in Midtown on the corner of Alabama and La Branch. The museum is open Wednesday - Sunday, 11am - 6pm. Admission is always free. Please call to schedule tours.

STATION MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART
1502 ALABAMA ST HOUSTON, TEXAS 77004
PH 713.529.6900 FX 713.529.6960
WWW.STATIONMUSEUM.COM