TIME OF LAND: DIMA FILIPPOV

15 November 2024 - 12 January 2025

Anna Nova Gallery of Contemporary Art presents Earth Time — a solo project by Dima Filippov, a visual journey based on landscape research that starts a dialogue about the future of art and its role in understanding of territories.

Dima Filippov was born in Gornyak, a small Steppe town near the Russia-Kazakhstan border. He believes that the reference point of his art practice was his trip to the ruined mines where his father used to work until the production site was shut down in the 1990s. During this trip, Dima came up with the image of a person left overboard of the history’s path of travel, which later had great impact on his perception of space.

At Level 1 of Earth Time, visitors will see frames with soil collected in the places where models of monuments designed by the artist himself will be installed. The displays offer the documented proof of how the soil was collected — not with some special tools, but with the artist’s bare hands. At Level 2, photographs of Mr. Filippov walking hither and thither and interacting with the environment (namely installing the monuments and interacting with the people engaged in this procedure). The pinnacle of the exhibition is a major site-specific installation — a diorama with salty water. It is the medium for the models of objects-to-be that will remain within for the duration of the exhibition.

The artist demonstrates the geographic areas that are of essence in his creative practice, starting with his native town where he used to work with his Dad and ending with the saline Elton Lake located in the Volgograd Region. The author pursues to establish a sign system that will mirror the Earth as a carrier of its history. His art objects remain unfinished and incomplete as if instigating to move on, to wonder where art belongs and how it can be implemented in Russia today.

“Dima offers a new take on the history of de-terrioralization of art, land art. He incorporates his personal memories into the environment he reclaims and initiates dialogues both in time and space. The artist uses figurative means to modify conceptual practices and shifts focus towards tactile and sonorous features of a landscape. Moreover, he juxtaposes personal and universal matters in terms of location and age and enriches the contemporary Russian art with a whole set of new artistic relations and methods.”

Natalya Smolyanskaya, artist, curator, and researcher of contemporary art, teacher at British Higher School Of Art And Design

To access the exhibition you can buy the tickets in the Gallery.
Standard ticket – 200 RUB
Privilege ticket – 100 RUB