The sixth Off white auction, created at the initiative of the International Fair of Contemporary Art Cosmoscow in 2014, will be held on June 4, 2019. Proceeds from the auction will be directed to the Cosmoscow Contemporary Art Foundation, which was founded in 2017. Among the lots will be presented works by Taus Makhacheva, Oleg Kulik, Alexander Vinogradov and Vladimir Dubosarsky, Andrey Bartenev, Irina Korina, Olga Tobreluts, Maria Agureyeva, Kirill Kto, Irina Petrakova and other contemporary artists.
Nicolaus Schafhausen is an internationally distinguished curator, director, author, and editor of numerous publications on contemporary art.Since 2012 he has been the Strategic Director of Fogo Island Arts, an initiative of the Canadian Shorefast Foundation to find alternative solutions for the revitalization of the area that is prone to emigration. Currently Nicolaus Schafhausen has been commissioned by the Munich Documentation Center for the History of National Socialism for the years 2019 and 2020 to curate and lead the exhibition and event project "Tell me about yesterday tomorrow", which brings contemporary artistic positions into an exchange with the institution's concern, function and mission to deal with and address collective memory. Curator of the 6th Moscow Biennale 2015, Schafhausen is also a Visiting Lecturer at HiSK, Higher Institute of Fine Arts, Gent. He has curated a number of international festivals and exhibitions and was the curator of the German Pavilion for the 52nd and 53rd Venice Biennale, and for the 56th Venice Biennale in 2015 he curated the Kosovo Pavilion. In addition to curating innovative and experimental exhibitions, national pavilions and other ambitious curatorial projects, Schafhausen has extensive experience leading renowned institutions such as the Frankfurter Kunstverein, the Künstlerhaus Stuttgart, the Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art in Rotterdam, and most recently the Director of Kunsthalle Wien.
Alexey Maslyaev is a curator, cultural historian, the Head of the Research and Teaching Methodology Sector of the Moscow Museum of Modern Art Education Department. He is also a curator of the Cosmoscow International Contemporary Art Fair NonCommercial Programme. He has been nominated for the Innovation Prize in the nominations ‘Curator Project’ (‘No Water Tomorrow’ exhibition) and ‘Regional Project’ (‘Story Demands To Be Continued’ exhibition).
“I am very pleased to see that certain Cosmoscow projects take their own shape, find their identity and earn reputation. Over the years, the Off white auction has indeed become one of the most notable and anticipated events of the Moscow art scene. I am particularly pleased that from now on the auction has an international curator who is perfectly familiar with the fundamentals of the Russian contemporary art market. Due to the fact that for the second year in a row the auction will benefit the Cosmoscow Foundation for Contemporary Art, we will be able to continue implementing projects that promote the development of the Russian art market in general and certain artists in particular. In addition, we are very pleased to continue our cooperation with Phillips”.
Beyond Luxury Luxury has many meanings. In addition to the extrinsic pursuit of distinction, prestige and social affiliation, luxury can also have individual, primarily intrinsically motivated and thus immaterial reasons. Our quest for luxury is also shaped by unconscious motives. We all buy products because of their symbolic meaning. First and foremost, art has a symbolic meaning that connects us with the world as a whole. This is also what makes a good art collector who knows how to distinguish between the different meanings of luxury. Art is primarily about emotional needs, only then comes the enjoyment. This also means that contemporary art does not have to be conspicuous and visible to others; it's more about a sense of life and about expressing your own personality. The art collector buys art that corresponds to his individual values and thus becomes the symbol of a lifestyle that connects with others through art. And that is perhaps the most luxurious thing about art: The exchange with the other.
In 2019, the auction featuring 21 lots totaled €104,000. The event took place at the Education center of MMOMA, Cosmoscow 2019 Museum of the Year. Oleg Kulik's "Empire" (€13,000) and "The Golden Rain" by Natalya Gudovich (€10,000) became the top lots of the sale. Andrey Malakhov was the auctioneer and host of the evening. All the proceeds will benefit the Cosmoscow Foundation for Contemporary Art.
In 2018, the auction totaled €172,000 with 21 lots for sale. It took place at the DI Telegraph and welcomed 120 VIP guests. The event was hosted in partnership with Phillips auction house, the auctioneer was Ivan Urgant. All the proceeds benefited the Cosmoscow Foundation for Contemporary Art.
In 2017, the auction featuring 17 artworks by Russian and international artists totaled €118,700. It was hosted in partnership with Phillips auction house. The proceeds benefited the Cosmoscow Foundation for Contemporary Art for the first time.
In 2016, a work by Vladimir Fridkes titled “Svetlana Zakharova. Still Frame” was sold for over €30,000 becoming the top lot of the auction. For three years (2014 to 2016) the auction benefited the Naked Heart Foundation totaling €550,000 in general.
In 2015, the auction featured 20 lots. Submitted by Vogue, a portrait of Diana Vishneva by the French fashion icon Patrick Demarchelier was sold for €24,000 becoming the top lot of the auction.
In 2014, the first Off white charity auction of contemporary art totaled €209,500 with all the proceeds benefiting Natalia Vodianova's Naked Heart Foundation.
Purchasing the works at our auction you make a significant contribution to the future of art, and provide necessary support for the development of artistic process.
