Concerts Opera Dance Theater Gigs Exhibits

	winzavod.ru The pastel colors of Harry Gruyaert's photos give the impression of watercolor paintings.

The Colors of Light

An exhibition at Vinzavod devoted to the Magnum Photos agency displays the work of international artists for the first time in Russia.

By Marina Kamenev
Published: March 28, 2008

The Vinzavod Center of Contemporary Art was flooded last weekend with visitors to the exhibition of the legendary photographic cooperative Magnum Photos, which opened Saturday in the Red Hall and White Hall. The queue stretched from the second floor to the bottom of the stairs as visitors lined up to see one of the headline exhibitions of this year's Photobiennale.

Magnum Photos, which this year is celebrating its 60th anniversary, was founded by iconic French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson and counts some of the world's most eminent photographers among its members.

The exhibition at Vinzavod presents the work of Magnum photographers from around the world. "I wanted to display photographers that had not previously been seen in Moscow," said Olga Sviblova, the director of The Moscow House of Photography, which organizes Photobiennale.

French photographer Lise Sarfati's exhibition "The New Life" depicts the world of bored-looking teenagers. Glum girls pout dramatically away from the camera, as if life was some kind of homework assignment they had no energy to complete.

One photograph features a greasy-haired girl, sitting on the edge of the pavement outside a playground at night, staring into the distance. The color of the gate matches her hair, and the regularity of the brickwork behind her emphasizes the dullness of the suburban space that she inhabits.

The bland landscapes of Belgian photographer Harry Gruyaert demonstrate an entirely different approach. "He works with pastel colors, which make a photograph look like a watercolor painting," Sviblova said.

His beach photographs are pale with bright injections of color. One is taken with a torn cloth immediately in front of the lens, providing an interesting texture that filters our view of a beach.

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The most striking photographs belong to Georgy Pinkhasov, in an exhibit called "Just Like Light." Tiny photos full of detail sit in thick white borders. True to the title, light is the main feature, and it hides the subjects of the photos in shadows.

Ballerinas in Paris can be seen by their shimmering skirts, and a photo of a maternity ward in Russia shows the sun streaming through the window onto a woman, with no children or cots in sight.

A photograph taken on the river Yauza shows a pigeon caught in mid flight, enveloped by the mist and colors of the bank.

As the only Russian member of Magnum Photos, Pinkhasov's work is an important part the exhibition, Sviblova said.

Another photographer, Guy Le Querrec, has a very different aesthetic. "He is an older photographer, and what's amazing is that he has captured all the [most important] jazz singers," Sviblova said.

Le Querrec works in black and white. In one typical shot, Ray Charles is featured in a blurred background. One photograph that breaks the pattern of performers in smoky bars depicts a television displaying John Coltrane playing the saxophone. The photograph is taken inside a house, where a dog runs through a corridor flooded with sunlight.

Sviblova said it was important to show this artist's work. "Black and white photographs are like the endangered birds and flowers. It is an art that's on the brink of extinction, and it is crucial that we resurrect it."

"Magnum Photos" runs to Apr. 20 at the Winzavod Center of Contemporary Art, located at 1 4th Syromyatnichesky Pereulok, Bldg 6. Metro Kurskaya. Tel. 917-4646, www.winzavod.ru.

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