irina korina

RISE UP IN THE FIRES
2015

In the contours of the bas-relief of Irina Korina’s Rise Up in the Fires one can discern the key symbol of the Soviet Pioneer movement – the pin badge, with a star at its centre in the crests of the flame of the Pioneer fire. However, this relates specifically to the intuitive recognition and guessing by the spectator of the pin badge where Lenin’s portrait has been replaced by a light blue Soviet calico, while the crests of the flame entwine into decorative cupola elements, crowned with shining spires. On the one hand Korina removes all ideological vestiges from the Soviet symbol (together with the scarlet colour), and on the other hand – imbues it with the new sacredness, severity and nobility of a significant object. This sculptural repetition of the miniature object uncovers an unexpected place for poetry, which was probably engendered by the very idea of repetition, the dubbing of the speech fragment. This is exactly how artists from the exhibition Cinema of Repeat Films once again relive the Soviet film experience in a “poetic dimension” when for example, the pioneer film heroine in the spirit of Young Guard or the surrealistic visions of Kostya Inochkin from Welcome, or No Trespassing is cleared of ideological layers and turns out be a new aesthetic experience for everybody capable of discerning the pioneer pin badge in Irina Korina’s object.

Irina Korina was born in 1977 in Moscow. She graduated from the Russian Academy of Theatrical Art (2000), Valand Academy of Art, Goteborg, Sweden (2000), and studied in the media class of the Vienna Academy of Art (2002–2005). She was a participant in the 53rd Venice Biennale (2009, Russia pavilion). She won the theatrical prize Debut (1999), was three times winner of the Soratnik prize (2006, 2009, 2012), twice the winner of the Innovation State Prize in the category New Generation (2008) and in the category Work of Visual Art (2014). She was included on the long list for the Kandinsky Prize in the category Project of the Year (2009) and on the shortlist in the category Project of the Year (2014). She has participated in numerous group exhibitions: her important personal projects include Refrain (Stella Art Foundation, Moscow), Installations (MMCA, Moscow), Installationen (Museum Folkwang at RWE Turm, Essen, Germany), etc. She works and lives in Moscow.