The "Moscow Series" by the Russian photographer Olga Chernyshova has been nominated for Britain's prestigious Artes Mundi contemporary art prize. Works by the Artes Mundi nominees, among them artists from Albania, Bulgaria, Israel, Kyrgyzstan Peru and Taiwan, are currently on display at the National Museum of Wales in Cardiff.
Unlike most of her acclaimed colleagues who almost never use public transport, Olga Chernyshova is fond of taking a ride in the metro or on a tram, roaming Moscow backyards, her camera craving for snapshots of anything offbeat and nontrivial that comes her way. Professor Boris Groys, a prominent art critic and the curator of Chernyshova's latest exhibits sponsored by the Berlin-based Diehl+Gallery One art center, says that her works are pointedly neutral, objective and realistic. He has frequently traveled to Russia lately in his client's interests as she clearly prefers to exhibit in Russia rather than abroad:
"I have the impression that Russian artists and the Russian cultural stratum in general are more interested in a domestic response and less keen on an international career. They seem to be quite satisfied with success in their own country".
Olga Chernyshova is well-known far outside Russia. Connoisseurs admire her "glimpse-catching" style and perfect composition. After her first solo exhibition in the famous Russkiy Museum in St. Petersburg, she continued her studies in the Netherlands and has since shuttled between Moscow and Amsterdam.
The winners of the Artes Mundi prize will be announced on May 19.
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