Passages of Realism in the art of Olga Chernysheva

The work of Moscow based artist Olga Chernysheva was first shown in Australia as part of the Biennale of Sydney (2006). Chernysheva's Russian commentators have linked her documentary photography and video productions to various traditions of Realism: from 17th century Dutch genre painting, to 19th century Russian Realism in painting and literature, to the early 20th century Soviet films of Dziga-Vertov. While in a 2007 interview Chernysheva asserts "I would say that for me the main element of Russian Realism is the modesty of the creator, his or her desire to serve a higher principle, which the 20th Century replaced with the triumph of self expression." All commentators agree, however, that Chernysheva's realist aesthetic is focussed on the 'recent historical rollercoaster' of contemporary Russian experience. She has been described as " a shrewd, though compassionate, observer" of a still volatile post-Soviet landscape.
My paper traces the distinguishing features of Chernysheva's brand of realism, as expressed in a selection of her photographic and video works. It will also investigate the philosophical implications of this realist aesthetic, when aligned with the artist's immanent ethnography of current Russian experience.

Dr Toni Ross is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Art History,College of Fine Arts/University of New South Wales. Toni Ross's recent publications include, "Aesthetic Autonomy and Interdisciplinarity: A Response to Nicolas Bourriaud’s ‘Relational Aesthetics,'" Journal of Visual Arts Practice, (2006) and an essay on "Institutional Critique and Aesthetic Enigma in Louise Lawler's Photography" to be published in a forthcoming Duke University Press anthology titled Communities of Sense: Aesthetics in Practice.