Unfired clay sculptures will be exhibited with new drawings by Russian architect Alexander Brodsky at Betts Projects in London. The works on display evoke his restrained style, showing the continuation of an interest in simple building materials and accessible tools.
For the hybrid craftsman, Brodsky’s work is driven by his interest in preserving traditional Russian building methods. His sculptures, made with unfired clay, reference local and low-cost materials and come in contrast to the steel and glass seen in new buildings in Moscow, which he rejects. The depictions of tall terraces with oblong windows and gabled roofs call for the preservation of historic Russian architecture.
Brodsky graduated from the Moscow Architecture Institute in 1978 and became known as a member of the Paper Architects, a dissenting group of graduates who rebelled against the monotony of standardised communist architecture. They chose to make paper models, instead of concrete monstrosities, to free them from state control.
In the 1980s, Brodsky began collaborating with fellow paper architect and friend Ilya Utkin, creating a series of etchings of their utopian worlds filled with historic architectural styles, from neoclassical to constructivist. After his success he moved to New York to pursue art and set his conceptual ideas free.
His drawings in pencil on tracing paper, which are shown here for the first time, bring his ideas and interest in the physicality of form together. Drawings of tools blur with bird’s eye views of buildings as the vocabulary of the artist and the architect blends. Taking an Arte Povera approach to Soviet design, Brodsky’s works call for a return to material and a considered approach to Russian architectural history.
His drawings in pencil on tracing paper, which are shown here for the first time, bring his ideas and interest in the physicality of form together. Pictured: Untitled, 2016.
Untitled, 2016.
His sculptures, made with unfired clay, reference local and low-cost materials and come in contrast to the steel and glass seen in new buildings in Moscow, which he rejects. Pictured: Untitled, 2014.
Untitled, 2016.
Untitled, 2016.
INFORMATION
‘Reliefs’ is on view until 20 November 2016. For more information, visit the Betts Project website
ADDRESS
Betts Project
100 Central Street
London EC1V 8AJ
-
Inside the Ourika Community Gardens, YSL Beauty’s Moroccan EdenAt the base of Morocco’s Atlas Mountains, YSL Beauty's gardens are tended by local women in a bid by the brand to give back to the country which so inspired its founder
-
Kris Van Assche after fashion: discover the designer’s new homeware collection for SeraxThe ‘Josephine’ collection for Serax features vases and other glass vessels inspired by Van Assche’s grandmother’s home
-
It’s time for the return of the show-stopping table clockA host of brands, from Piaget to Van Cleef & Arpels, are revisiting the table clock in spectacular style
-
A new London exhibition explores the legacy of Centre Pompidou architect Richard Rogers‘Richard Rogers: Talking Buildings’ – opening tomorrow at Sir John Soane’s Museum – examines Rogers’ high-tech icons, which proposed a democratic future for architecture
-
At the Royal Academy summer show, architecture and art combine as never beforeThe Royal Academy summer show is about to open in London; we toured the iconic annual exhibition and spoke to its curator for architecture, Farshid Moussavi
-
This ingenious London office expansion was built in an on-site workshopNew Wave London and Thomas-McBrien Architects make a splash with this glulam extension built in the very studio it sought to transform. Here's how they did it
-
Once vacant, London's grand department stores are getting a new lease on lifeThanks to imaginative redevelopment, these historic landmarks are being reborn as residences, offices, gyms and restaurants. Here's what's behind the trend
-
Lego and Serpentine celebrate World Play Day with a new pavilionLego and Serpentine have just unveiled their Play Pavilion; a colourful new structure in Kensington Gardens in London and a gesture that celebrates World Play Day (11 June)
-
Inside Abbey Road's refresh: touring the legendary studio's new interiorAbbey Road gets an interior refresh by Threefold Architects, bringing the legendary London recording studio in tune with the 21st century
-
The Serpentine Pavilion 2025 is ready to visit, ‘an exhibition you can use’The Serpentine Pavilion 2025 is ready for its public opening on 6 June; we toured the structure and spoke to its architect, Marina Tabassum
-
A meticulously crafted artist’s space in east London evokes the area’s long creative historyMaich Swift Architects’ artist’s space has radically reconfigured a Victorian terraced house, transforming it into a contemporary live/work interior
