First Bregenz, then Venice—Full House at the Preview with Anna Jermolaewa

Big crowd at the preview and signing session with artist Anna Jermolaewa on Monday, July 10. The exhibition will be open starting July 15.

Bregenz, July 11, 2023 – On Monday evening, the Kunsthaus Bregenz hosted an exclusive preview of the “KUB Collection: Anna Jermolaewa.” In front of a full house, KUB Director Thomas D. Trummer and Anna Jermolaewa spoke about the works on display. Afterward, Jermolaewa signed the limited edition Vorarlberger Nachrichten two-page spread that she created. Numerous visitors secured “their” work of art to take home. Currently, installation work on the summer exhibition “Michael Armitage” is in progress until Friday evening. The works by Anna Jermolaewa on the ground floor will be on view regularly starting July 15.

One year before Anna Jermolaewa will be representing Austria at the Venice Biennale, the Kunsthaus Bregenz is featuring selected major works by the Russian-born artist from the KUB collection on the ground floor. Yesterday evening, on Monday, July 10, Thomas D. Trummer and Anna Jermolaewa hosted an exclusive preview of the exhibition KUB Collection: Anna Jermolaewa. Under the direction of Thomas D. Trummer, the KUB has been collecting the artist’s work for several years and now has one of the largest Jermolaewa collections. Being shown on the ground floor of the Kunsthaus Bregenz is, among other things, the installation Chernobyl Safari, 2014/23, a highly topical piece about the wildlife in the contaminated zone of Chernobyl. On video as well as in photographs and watercolors, Chernobyl Safari depicts a paradise for animals in a habitat abandoned by humans. “I was chiefly interested in the animals” Jermolaewa explains about her work. The imagery was recorded by wildlife cameras that she installed in the restricted zone. Today the zone is a territory that was mined by the Russian military. The most recent recordings from February and March 2022 will also be shown in Bregenz for the first time.

Following the conversation, Anna Jermolaewa signed the VN-two-page spread that she created in front of the KUB. Almost all of those in attendance took advantage of the unique opportunity to get their hands on a signed work of art. Within a short time, a line formed in front of the signing table. “It’s my favorite picture,” laughed Anna Jermolaewa when asked about the motif. It depicts a deer in the evening light, taken at 5:07 pm on October 6, the artist’s birthday.

Jermolaewa will be donating her fee for the two-pagespread to the CF Chornobyl NPP Foundation. Slavutych. Development. The foundation funds social projects for people in the Ukrainian city of Slavutytsch, including the Slavutych Rehab Center “HUMAN CLINIC.” The town was built specifically for the evacuated employees of the power plant and the residents of Chernobyl in 1986 after the nuclear disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Many of the people are still suffering from the consequences of the nuclear accident and, among other things, are treated at the Slavutych Rehab Center “HUMAN CLINIC.”

Proceeds from the sale of Jermolaewa’s edition Chernobyl Safari 15/09/2021 for the Kunsthaus Bregenz will also go to the CF Chornobyl NPP Foundation. Slavutych. The work is a photograph from her series Chernobyl Safari, 2014/23, which is likewise part of the Kunsthaus Bregenz collection.

KUB Collection: Anna Jermolaewa will be open regularly beginning July 15 and on view until October 29, 2023.