Sanya Kantarovsky. Apricot Juice

About

‘Well what have you got?’  asked Berlioz.
‘Apricot juice, only it’s warm’ was the answer.
‘All right, let’s have some.’
The apricot juice produced a rich yellow froth, making the air smell like a hairdresser’s. 

– Mikhail Bulgakov, The Master and Margarita

Apricot Juice takes place around two distinct parts – a language and movement based performance by Misevičiūte and a group of five large-scale paintings by Kantarovsky. The exhibition departs from Mikhail Bulgakov’s enigmatic masterpiece novel The Master and Margarita, a narrative woven around a visit by the Devil to the aggressively atheist Soviet Union. Written between 1928 and the author’s death in 1940, the novel has become one of the most potent and critical works of Russian literature of the 20th century.

During two live performances Misevičiūtė will interact with her environment on a cat shaped stage placed in the nave of the former chapel, and built  to conjure the form of Bulgakov’s demonic feline character Behemoth. Together with the paintings, scaled and lit in response to the original function of the chapel as a place of worship, the installation invokes the Christian metanarrative within The Master and Margarita.

The genesis of the collaboration between the two artists consisted of a series of gesture drawings and character studies of Misceviciute in Kantarovsky’s studio. The final paintings, indexical to Miscviciute’s body, mirrored chronological scenes from the novel. In turn, Miscevicute re-appropriated the paintings as a departure point for building a layered movement and language based performance, eventually closing the collaborative loop by engaging with the paintings hung in the gallery space. In effect, the process allowed both artists to consider the content of The Master and Margarita at length, coalescing and diverging their practices in the process.

The resulting event, ad absurdum, considers a possibility of a space between literature, painting and theater, in which secular skepticism can momentarily dissolve into belief.

Kantarovsky will collaborate with Stuart Bailey on an extensive monograph due to be released in autumn 2015. Published by Studio Voltaire and generously supported by Casey Kaplan, New York; Marc Foxx, Los Angeles; Tanya Leighton, Berlin; and Modern Art, London.

This commission has received additional support from Yana and Stephen Peel.

Kantarovsky lives and works in New York. He received his BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2004 and MFA from UCLA in 2011. Recent solo and two person exhibitions include: Gushers, MARC FOXX, Los Angeles, 2015; Allergies, Casey Kaplan, New York, 2014; Little Vera with Ella Kruglyanskaya, KIM?, Riga, 2014 and You Are not an Evening, GAK, Bremen, 2013. Kantarovsky participated in the group exhibition Notes and Neo Camp at Studio Voltaire, London in 2013. Recent special projects include Research and Reporting at KW, Berlin 2014 and LAX façade, Los Angeles, 2013. 

Kantarovsky is represented by Casey Kaplan, New York; Marc Foxx, Los Angeles; Tanya Leighton, Berlin; and Modern Art, London.

This new commission forms part of How to work together, a shared programme of contemporary art commissioning and research organised by Studio Voltaire, The Showroom and Chisenhale Gallery. Together, over three years, How to work together is producing a series of artists’ commissions, exhibitions, events and an online think tank.

howtoworktogether.org

Sanya Kantarovsky’s commission is supported by Arts Council England through Catalyst Arts: capacity building and match-funding, Bloomberg, Jerwood Charitable Foundation and the How to work together Artist Commissions Production Fund.