Associations of artists of the beginning of the XXI century in the context of the development of the artistic life of St. Petersburg

Din Zhiwei Postgraduate student, Department of Art History and Pedagogy of Art, A.I. Herzen Russian State Pedagogical University 191186, Russia, Saint Petersburg, nab. Sinks, 48, room 6, room 51 dingzhiwei@rambler.ru Other publications by this author

The artistic life of St. Petersburg has been formed for several centuries and continues its development in the XXI century. Various associations and unions of professional artists played an important role in this process, especially in the second half of the XIX– XX century. They are understood as various types of communities of artists and/or representatives of creative specialties, which may include elements of a trade union, as well as a creative and commercial union. Moreover, at different stages of the development of such associations, some of the listed aspects of the work could be emphasized, and some went into the background. For example, in Soviet times, the only official community known as the Union of Artists of the USSR was basically a professional union created to represent and protect the rights and interests of its members in labor relations, was engaged in the distribution of government orders, workshops, vouchers, etc. Currently, various art associations operate in the Northern Capital, which have a direct impact on local artistic life. The activity of such communities in different regions of Soviet and post-Soviet Russia in the mid- second half of the XX century is considered in sufficient detail in the context of the problems of art development. Thus, this topic came into the focus of attention of E.Y. Degot, V.A. Tupitsyn, B.I. Ioganson, Yu.V. Leonycheva, D.V. Demkina, E.N. Alekseeva, etc. The art space of modern St. Petersburg has been characterized in the works of D.Y. Severyukhin, E.P. Stalinskaya, T.M. Milyukova, V.B. Vysotsky, etc. At the same time, there are practically no works that would comprehensively reveal the main features of how such groups participate in the development of modern creativity. Therefore, the purpose of this publication is to analyze the forms and activities of St. Petersburg art associations, as well as their impact on the formation of the art space of the city. In order to achieve this goal, it was necessary to solve such tasks as to identify the state of knowledge of the issue, to identify the main features of art groups, to show the role in the activation and development of the artistic life of St. Petersburg.

The influence of such associations on the artistic life of St. Petersburg is reasonably great and has certain features that relate to both the composition and the specifics of exhibition and commercial practice and educational activities. It affects not only the differences between generations — Soviet, post-Soviet and those who studied and were even born in the Russian Federation, for example, the so-called "generation of thirty-year-olds", but also the difference in art school. This publication is devoted to the formation of a general idea of their activities in the modern urban space and the identification of basic features, partly an attempt to typologize these communities. As a scientific and methodological basis for this research, the works of L.Yu. Gurevich ^{[1, 2]}, who deals with the Leningrad underground and modern St. Petersburg painting, V.A. Ushakov, who studies the history of the development of the Leningrad — St. Petersburg Union of Artists, are considered. We also note the works of E.Yu. Andreeva ^[3], A.F. Dmitrenko and R.A. Bakhtiyarov ^{[4, 5]}, L.V. Mochalov ^[6], V.A. Gusev and V.A. Lenyashin ^[7], D.Ya. Severyukhin ^{[8, 9]}, which are significant for understanding all the nuances of the artistic life of the city in the past and present.] and others . They show the development of the Leningrad-Petersburg art school, but do not give a complete description of the activities of associations of professional artists at the present stage.

Currently, there are associations in St. Petersburg that have a long history. The largest, authoritative and mass of them is the former Leningrad branch of the Union of Artists of the USSR, now the regional creative public organization "St. Petersburg Union of Artists". Like its predecessor, the creative union today unites both artists and restorers, art historians. Members of the association receive workshops, orders, and also have the opportunity to interact within the framework of various creative projects, exhibitions, conferences. An Exhibition Center is open for exhibiting and selling the works of the participants.

This association was initially created on the initiative of the state to control professional artistic personnel from the point of view of ideology, partly to affirm the principles of socialist realism. However, at present the St. Petersburg Union of Artists is striving to restore and continue the traditions of Russian art of both the pre-Soviet and Soviet past. This is due to the history itself, since its origins come from pre-revolutionary times, and the form and structure are approved during the period of the country of the Soviets. As the art critic V.A. Ushakov noted, "the choice in favor of realism allowed us to preserve the traditions of authentic Russian realism and a magnificent art school with all the negative sides of ideological pressure" ^{[10, p. 7]}. Especially relevant in the 2000s, when the demand for traditionalism increased from the Russian society.

The St. Petersburg Creative Union of Artists (IFA) should also be included among the major associations. It consists of painters, graphic artists, photographers, designers, jewelers, icon painters, as well as masters of decorative and applied arts, sculptors. Among the innovations in the structure of the community should be attributed the section of "new media" ^[6], which made it possible for artists who are passionate about creating images and art objects using modern computer and Internet technologies to exhibit with the help of the association. This is especially important, since there is an acute shortage of exhibition sites in the city to display such works. The Union, also as a "senior" brother, has a small fund of workshops, but still focuses on exposition and exhibition, commercial and educational work, for example, the so-called "creative estates" have become widely known to the public.

The St. Petersburg Creative Union of Artists positions itself as a continuation of the traditions of the Leningrad City Committee of Graphic Artists ^[11]. Art historian A.K. Florkovskaya, who studied his activities, considers this organization as an illustrative example of a community of artists of the late Soviet period. She believes that it combines the features of pre-revolutionary institutions and the "sociopolitical realities of the last Soviet decades" ^{[12, p. 181]}, which is characteristic of the city on the Neva. In many ways, it was created in opposition to the Union of Artists of the USSR, since initially it included those artists who were not in the first and did not want to follow the official line in art. In fact, both organizations have long acted as trade unions for those who were loyal to the authorities and those who advocated alternative and free creativity. However, now such a confrontation has leveled off, and both organizations have occupied their niches in the artistic life of St. Petersburg.

It is noteworthy that in addition to large public associations that functioned as trade unions and workshop funds, in the 1980s, small groups and unions of artists began to be created in Leningrad at that time, and literally in underground conditions. The discovery of such structures was connected with the attempts of the last wave of non-conformists, as their representative and alternative poet, prose writer V.B. Krivulin wrote, "to outline the limits of intellectual freedom" ^[13]. At the same time, they did not break as thoroughly as the Moscow conceptualists, with the previous tradition, preserved the continuity of generations. In the following years of the 1990s, there followed a rather sharp entry of the underground into the public scene, already in a completely different socio-cultural and political, as well as economic dimension. At the same time, the local art school, often reproached for the "archaic Leningrad tradition" ^[13], was formed somewhat away from the metropolitan mainstream, which allowed it to acquire even greater originality, including due to the heterogeneity of artistic associations and at the same time their close interaction with each other.

One of the most famous unions of this kind was the association "Mitki Creative Association", which was formed back in 1982 and gave rise to the development of an entire subculture. Currently, representatives of this association have grown from unofficial art to the level of "classics". They actively accept new "brothers" and "sisters" into their ranks, who continue the general line of "urban folklore" laid down by D.V. Shagin and V.N. Shinkarev. At the same time, the association, having received its own space in the central part of the city, has the opportunity to conduct exhibition activities, implements various cultural projects, for example, "Petersburg. Stops on demand", is engaged in education, conducting master classes, literary and musical evenings. Thus, this association bears the features of a kind of socio-aesthetic movement ^[14], which has a significant impact on the artistic life of the city on the Neva.

It is important to note that the St. Petersburg associations of contemporary artists, being from the same art school, often interact with each other. So, for example, in the recent past, the same "Mitki" were in collaboration with other art groups, for example, "Inaki", "Alipiy", "Island", "New Artists", etc. A huge influence on the cultural space of the city was also exerted by the art group "New Artists", created in Leningrad by the artist T.P. Novikov in 1982 and eventually turned into the New Academy of Fine Arts. Later, all these groups were transformed into the Association of Experimental Fine Arts (TEII), which later reborn into the art center "Pushkinskaya 10". If in the Soviet period the authors were united by the oppositional nature of creativity, then after perestroika there they formed and still form a free space that unites the creative potential of several art galleries, a concert venue, music clubs, recording studios, a children's theater and creative workshops of famous artists and musicians ^[15].

It is interesting that in St. Petersburg there is a constant renewal of such unions and associations: some disappear at the will of the creators and due to economic factors, while others appear. An example of this can be the creative group "Old Town" created back in the 1980s, which united artists, according to the leader of the group Ya.A. Antonyshev, who wanted to "preserve old houses" ^[16]. Their works related to the images of St. Petersburg, going back in time, constantly appeared on the exhibition grounds of the city. These could be their own projects of the same name or national teams, citywide and even nonresident. The activity of the "Old Town" continued until the dissolution of the group in 2020. After that, its members either started working independently, or joined other associations.

Creative unions as a kind of artistic associations are currently more typical for groups of young artists who are passionate about current trends in art or related professional interests. They rarely undergo registration as organizations. For example, the unofficial Art-World association was created around a creative workshop, which later turned into an art school. Its members include, first of all, graduates of the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts named after I.E. Repin, who not only work and exhibit together as followers of traditional art and innovators, but also teach their art to others ^[17]. According to a similar principle, such associations as "Artika", "Nevsky Artists", "Art Cart", "Firewall", etc. were created.

It should be noted that the modern artistic process has less influence on large associations and groups founded in the Soviet and post-Soviet period. The former act mostly as trade unions, while the latter are exhibition and commercial associations that help artists to unite, work together, promote their views on art and reduce dependence on the changing tastes of the public. Thus, the association "Association of Traveling Art Exhibitions of the XXI Century", opened in 2005, seeks to unite authors who are inclined to a realistic depiction of the world, content and preservation of the traditions of the past. The members of the association rely on educating the public, creating a special "cultural space" with their works, exhibitions and master classes ^[18]. Thus, associations of artists are now understood as forms and ways of influencing authors on the cultural space of the city.

It is noteworthy that the St. Petersburg associations of artists at the beginning of the XXI century are mainly represented by small creative groups and workshops. Such small forms, often not formalized officially, without a clearly formulated charter, are the most optimal formations for the modern saturated and extremely heterogeneous artistic life of St. Petersburg. At the same time, almost everyone openly declares their desire to continue the traditions of the St. Petersburg art school of the pre-Soviet and even Soviet period. It should also be noted that members of such communities create their works mainly in a realistic way, less often turn to abstract art and performance. In their work, the strengthening and enrichment of performance techniques is noticeable, especially in easel compositions and works of decorative and applied art. These processes have replaced the thirst for novelty, irony and cynicism, which were previously a priority. Moreover, artists are often members of the Union of Artists, but in parallel they may be in other structures, which opens up more opportunities for creative experiments for them.

Summarizing the analysis, we note that an important stage in the development of the artistic life of St. Petersburg at the end of the XX century was the creation of associations of artists whose work was not included in the framework of the exhibition activities of the Union of Artists. They were an alternative to official structures. At the beginning of the XXI century, the situation changed, as such communities of artists began to be created primarily for joint exhibition activities and sale of works, as well as as a way of positioning and projecting ideas and images into the cultural space of the city. Many unions of artists, especially young authors, are now being formed due to their desire to solve professional issues, get a job and simply earn bread. They are formed around workshops and creative teams, in a circle of acquaintances, sometimes growing into entire art schools or art galleries. Thus, "young" art associations have completely different reasons for creation, allow different authors to create diverse and multi-format projects and solve commercial issues. Moreover, if large and historical associations are multifunctional in terms of the composition of their members, then young and newest groups are, as a rule, unions of authors close to each other in appearance, genre and trend in art. The latter may consist of members of the Union of Artists and similar organizations, but common interests with other authors lead them to the need to create art groups. Their appearance, changes within them indicate the rich artistic life of the city.