She was our first break through. The conversation started with usual “hiding” behind the galleries mission. “The goal of our gallery is to promote local artists.”, she said. Unlike her words, her demeanor kept me thinking positively. ” This artist has difficult time of going local in Moscow.” I pleaded. “He is not about glory of Russia , he is not an epitome of post soviet art. He is honestly looking for his voice, which makes it close to impossible to show him in Russia.” Her stare moved between me and his portfolio in front of her. ” I have been either given a run around by a number of galleries. There is gallery guide full of them and no where to go.” I closed. “Have you seen my gallery? It has a purple floor.” she replied. At that moment I realized that this will be my first show.
Annex Gallery is a relatively bizarre shaped room at the heart of eclectic book store. We were fortunate enough to be the first ones to put up a show on a brand new hanging system. Cables suspended from a rail near the ceiling allowed us to arrange the pieces and fit them into the space. Primary light source during the day is the sun coming in through the windows above. Clearly not an ideal situation, but I did not care to complain.
Harriet Logan - the book store owner and manager is a very accessible person. My neurotic calls about promotions, arrangements, store front display and every other little thing were pleasantly replied to and generally tolerated. I was able to roam freely and come and go during business hours as I pleased.
There was a downside to this ordeal. I had to self-promote. Little to no promotion was done for the show and so the opening night was pretty empty. However this was the space where I could invite my family, friends and coworkers to see the show and that was a great starting point.
As I was taking the show down I had a sentimental moment. Taking the last framed photograph out of the book store I walked surrounded by varnished bookshelves full of older books and rear prints. I was turning the page on the first chapter of Safari art shows and planing for many more pages to come.
ILYa
