Fabric of the city
Maria Arendt's recent work takes architecture for its subject matter; she interprets the classic "symbols" of 20th century Russian culture (Vladimir Tatlin’s Monument to the Third International, Konstantin Melnikov's house, Vladimir Shukhov's radio tower, the Palace of the Soviets by Boris Iofan and the Vesnin brothers etc.) in a medium that would appear at odds with architecture - embroidery.
The artist presents us with a collection of freestyle illustrations to the great history of Soviet utopian architecture, a sort of intimate black and white chronicle, threaded with personal feeling.
Perhaps it's an expression of utopian thinking on her part too; her fabrics could be likened to the netting which in Russia always envelops buildings under construction. Like a temporary drape, her embroideries give a glimmer of hope that beneath them lies a reality akin to the one which Tatlin, Melnikov and the Vesnins had envisaged.
The approachable scale of the works makes the viewer feel at ease with these otherwise imposing giants and the great utopia becomes familiar, comprehensible. By circumventing the usual dissonance caused by their magnitude of scale and virtuosity of construction, the subjects of Arendt's works reveal their truly iconic nature.
Arendt doesn't play at being a visionary. She doesn't paint images of the future. She simply and quietly hints at its potential implementation.
Guiding our perceptive faculties, she attunes us, turning for inspiration to the canonical masterpieces of Russian architecture that have settled
in our consciousness.
Ekaterina Inozemtseva
