"De Stijl at Hundred and One"
105 NY-110, Melville, NY 11747

September 25, 11 am – October 20, 7 pm
Tuesday – Saturday, 11 am – 7 pm, free admission

Please write to racc.ny@mail.ru or call (347) 662 1456
The artist is available for interviews

Russian American Cultural Center (RACC) presents "De Stijl at Hundred and One", an exhibition of collages and high-relief sculptures by Dmitry Borshch. When produced fifteen years ago, they were accompanied by the following statement: "I favor a compound approach to all visual problems that occupy me. By compound I mean multiform – I present my solution to a given problem in as many forms or through as many means as are available to me. These may be painting, printmaking, sculpting... The meaning of each completed piece is deferred until other pieces, materially and thematically linked to it, are completed. They form the understructure upon which their meaning could rest. Not able to describe a piece outside of its progressing context I hesitate whenever I am asked for an "artist’s statement". I cannot "state" my art’s meaning; its current subject, however, can be "stated" – it is rectilinear geometry." Inspired by De Stijl, the artist considers these to be his first independent graphic and sculptural works. The former are collaged of bright, medium-weight paper, the latter are polychrome hardwood. Seven of twenty-five pieces in this exhibition were exhibited last year as part of the international "Hundred Years of De Stijl" event. RACC coordinated its activities with Museum De Lakenhal, Rietveld Schröderhuis, Mondriaanhuis, Centraal Museum Utrecht, Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, Württembergischer Kunstverein Stuttgart, Museum Haus Konstruktiv, and other institutions.

Dr. Regina Khidekel curated the exhibition at RACC's new satellite space in Melville, New York. "De Stijl at Hundred and One" is supported by funds from New York State Council on the Arts, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, Materials for the Arts (MFTA).

Russian American Cultural Center (520 East 76th Street, Suite 7E New York, NY 10021) aims to provide permanent cultural representation to more than 700,000 Russian-speaking residents of New York. It was founded in 1998 by Dr. Regina Khidekel and earned its 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status in 1999. RACC has adopted and broadened the strategy of organizations like No Longer Empty (http://www.nolongerempty.org/) which invigorate neighborhoods by mounting exhibitions in their unutilized or temporarily underutilized spaces. Visitors coalesce around a space where art may never have been exhibited before.

Regina Khidekel received her PhD from St. Petersburg Academy of Fine Arts, became the director of that city's Diaghilev Art Center in 1990, and in 1998 the founding director of the Russian American Cultural Center in New York. She is the author of "It's the Real Thing" (1999, University of Minnesota Press), and has contributed essays to the following publications: "Lyubov Popova" (1994), "Lazar Khidekel: Suprematism and Architecture" (1995), "Sterligov Group: Paintings from Russia" (1995), "Russian Constructivist Roots: Present Concerns" (1997), "Forbidden Art" (1998), "Lev Meshberg" (1999), "Tamar Hirschl" (2000), "In Malevich's Circle" (2000), "A Life of Colors" (2001), "Surviving Suprematism" (2004), "Family Album. Artists from St. Petersburg" (2006), "Anna Rochegova" (2008), "Homage to Diaghilev's Enduring Legacy" (2009), "Trajectory of Suprematism" (2011), "Floating Worlds and Future Cities: Lazar Khidekel, Suprematism and Russian Avant-garde" (2013), "Building Drawings and Drawing Buildings" (2014), "Lazar Khidekel and Suprematism" (2014). She has lectured at many universities, and curated many exhibitions.

Dmitry Borshch was born in Dnepropetrovsk, studied in Moscow, today lives in New York. His drawings and sculptures have been exhibited at the National Arts Club (New York), Brecht Forum (New York), Exit Art (New York), CUNY Graduate Center (New York), Salmagundi Club (New York), ISE Cultural Foundation (New York), Williamsburg Art and Historical Center (New York), Triangle Arts Association (New York), Parish Art Museum (Southampton), International Human Rights Law Institute of DePaul University (Chicago), the State Russian Museum (Saint Petersburg), Central Exhibition Hall "Manege" (Saint Petersburg), Frieze Art Fair (London).

http://www.russianamericanculture.com/galleries/emerging-artists/dmitry-borshch/