Lot 255
  • 255

Svetlana Kopystiansky

Estimate
50,000 - 70,000 USD
bidding is closed

Description

  • Svetlana Kopystiansky
  • The Story, 1987
  • oil on canvas
  • 59 1/2 by 43 1/2 in.
  • 151 by 110 cm

Provenance

Phyllis Kind Gallery, New York
Acquired directly from the above by the present owner

Exhibited

Martin-Gropius-Bau, Museum fur Moderne Kunst, Igor & Svetlana Kopystiansky, August-October, 1991

Literature

Joachim Sartorius, Dan Cameron, Christine Tacke, Svetlana and Igor Kopystiansky "In the Tradition", Berlin, Museum Für Moderne Kunst, 1991, p. 30
Igor and Svetlana Kopystiansky, Berlin: DAAD/Berlinische Galerie, Museum für Moderne Kunst; Munich: Kunstraum, 1991
Svetlana Kopystiansky, Shadow of Gravitation, The Art Institute of Chicago and Büro Orange Siemens AG/Kulturstieftung Siemens, 1996

Condition

The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com , an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This unique piece has certainly survived the passage of time very well. There don't appear to be any damages to any portion of the work, except for one tiny speck of white on the top of the lowest fold. We recommend that the work be hung as is, and perhaps that one small spot could be retouched.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

Catalogue Note

The basis of many of Svetlana Kopystiansky's works is a literary text. She draws from a range of texts, both classic and contemporary, including Russian novels, short stories, and plays. In every case what is most important is that the text is "found"—it was written by someone other than the artist and then rewritten by hand by Kopystiansky. Her text-based works are connected to the tradition of OBERIU, a group of Leningrad-based absurdist writers of the 1920s-1930s known for their embrace of total irrationality, irony, and black humor.

Born in Voronezh, Kopystiansky was a member of the Moscow unofficial art scene beginning in 1978, participating in apartment exhibitions and rare public exhibitions of nonconformist art. Since 1988 her work has been featured in major exhibitions of Russian contemporary art in the West as well as major international exhibitions, including the Sydney Biennial, 1992; the Sao Paolo Biennial, 1994; the Istanbul Biennial, 1995; the 2nd Johannesburg Biennial, 1997; the Lyon Biennial, 1997; the Sculpture Project, Münster, 1997; the Liverpool Biennial, 1999; Places in the Mind, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2001; and Documenta 11, Kassel, 2002.

Solo exhibitions of Kopystiansky's work have been held at the Kunsthalle Düsseldorf (1994); The Art Institute of Chicago (1996); the Sprengel Museum, Hannover (2002); the Lisson Gallery, London (2002 and 2006); and the Kunsthalle Fridericianum, Kassel (2005), among other venues. Her works are represented in the permanent collections of major museums, including The Whitney Museum of American art, The Tate Modern, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and The Art Institute of Chicago.