Igor Moukhin

I’ve Seen Rock’n’Roll

Moscow photographer explores the cultural phenomenon of Soviet rock’n’roll of the perestroika era

Main Building Exhibition Hall, 2nd floor

28.06.2016—28.08.2016

Black-and-white photographs created during the period from the middle of the 1980s to the beginning of the 1990s immerse the viewers into the lives of rock musicians from the legendary bands: Boris Grebenshikov (Aquarium), Viktor Tsoi (Kino), Vyacheslav Butusov (Nautilus Pompilius),Zhanna Aguzarova (Bravo), Konstantin Kinchev (Alisa), Oleg Garkusha (AuktYon), Pyotr Mamonov (Zvuki Mu), Alexander Bashlachev, and many others. Now, several decades past, these photographs are more than just a record of the Soviet music phenomenon – they also transmit a powerful boost of inner freedom and cultural protest of the creative young generation of that time.

The premiere of the exhibition project I’ve Seen Rock 'n' Roll coincides with the publication of the namesake book by Igor Moukhin.

"… This book gives a full-scale overview of the reality that one cannot erase either from one’s the memory or from the genetic code of Russian music today: Tsoi’s museful look while he was standing at the Kantima (Kantemirovskaya metro station in Moscow) entrance, fervent punk debauchery of the Tupiye band, Mamonov’s eccentric plasticity, grotesque shows by Corrosion of Metal. In an artful way he combines the irrevocably classical photographs to create a new and exciting novel about a paradise lost,"

writes journalist and music expert Felix Sandalov.

According to the Afisha magazine, Igor Moukhin is one of the most important artists in contemporary photography. Say the least of it: not only has he managed to capture the provocative and controversial era of the 1980s, which came closer to the British rock’n’roll “golden age” than ever in Russian musical history, but he also documented yet another attempt of the rebirth of the rebellious spirit in the noughties. His camera witnessed how Saprykin’s foster children from St. Petersburg and Moscow bars and clubs joined the protest actions of 2011. All of these, from the life of the artistic circle to the lives of prostitutes, fashionistas, members of youth political movements, and Russian generalship, is shown in more than 15 author’s editions of the photographer.

This year will bring us yet another book, and several months before its publication the exhibition at Rosphoto will give a chance to get acquainted with Igor Moukhin’s vision of rock’n’roll of the times when Komsomol youth remembered Lenin’s name more and more seldom but visited the Leningrad Rock Club concerts more and more often. The photographs presented at the exhibition include famous shots along with the rare ones from the remaining negatives made in the USSR that were not published before. The displayed works include original prints from the 1980s, contact prints from film negatives of the 1986-1988s, and modern large format exhibition prints. The pictures of the rock crowd complemented by the photographs depicting daily life in Leningrad and Moscow of that time present a unique historical material about the ending period of the USSR.

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Installation photos

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About the author

Igor Moukhin

Igor Moukhin (born in 1961) participated in more than 150 personal and group exhibitions in Russia as well as abroad, his photographs are kept in the collections of the leading Russian and foreign museums.

From 1985 to 1986 he attended classes at the studio of Alexander Lapin at the Moscow State University and worked with samizdat rock musicians. Member of the Immediate Photography group since 1987. Since 1989 he has been working as an independent photographer.

During the perestroika and glasnost times, he created an independent photographic project about Soviet youth and rock-musicians (portraits of Viktor Tsoi, Boris Grebenshikov, Pyotr Mamonov, Dunya Smirnova (as a member of the Tupiye band), Alexander Bashlachev). Photographs from this period were published in Artemy Troitsky’s books «ROCK in Russland» (1989) and «TUSOVKA. Who’s Who in the New Soviet Rock Culture» (1990).

In 1999, Moukhin received a grant from the Paris Mayor’s office to work on a project titled “Lovers in Paris” sponsored by FNAC (Fonds national d’art contemporain) and the French Committee to commemorate the year 2000.

Igor Moukhin was twice the winner of the Silver Camera award for the best coverage about Moscow (1998, 2005).

Author’s editions:

Avoir 20 ans a Moscou. Paris: Editions Alternatives, 1998. Texte de G.Saffrais.
Born in the SSSR. Moscow: L. Gusev, 2005. Text by Ekaterina Degot and Steve Yates.
My Moscow. Moscow: Treemedia, 2012. Text by Zakhar Prilepin.
My Moscow. Zakhar Prilepin. Schilt Publishing, 2012. Photographs by Igor Moukhin.
Igor Moukhin. Paris: Loco, 2012. Photographies 1987 – 2011. Textes: Christian Gattinoni. Éditions
Moscow _2. La Bohème. published by author, Moscow, 2015
Resistance. Lost in Translation. published by author, Moscow, 2015
Weekend. published by author, Moscow, 2015

Holds classes at the Rodchenko Moscow School of Photography and Multimedia.

Links related to author

I’ve Seen Rock'n'Roll
Black-and-white photographs created during the period from the middle of the 1980s to the beginning of the 1990s immerse the viewers into the lives of rock musicians from the legendary bands: Boris Grebenshikov (Aquarium), Viktor Tsoi (Kino), Vyacheslav Butusov (Nautilus Pompilius),Zhanna Aguzarova (Bravo), Konstantin Kinchev (Alisa), Oleg Garkusha (AuktYon), Pyotr Mamonov (Zvuki Mu), Alexander Bashlachev, and many others. Now, several decades past, these photographs are more than just a record of the Soviet music phenomenon – they also transmit a powerful boost of inner freedom and cultural protest of the creative young generation of that time.

The premiere of the exhibition project I’ve Seen Rock 'n' Roll coincides with the publication of the namesake book by Igor Moukhin.

"… This book gives a full-scale overview of the reality that one cannot erase either from one’s the memory or from the genetic code of Russian music today: Tsoi’s museful look while he was standing at the Kantima (Kantemirovskaya metro station in Moscow) entrance, fervent punk debauchery of the Tupiye band, Mamonov’s eccentric plasticity, grotesque shows by Corrosion of Metal. In an artful way he combines the irrevocably classical photographs to create a new and exciting novel about a paradise lost,"

writes journalist and music expert Felix Sandalov.

According to the Afisha magazine, Igor Moukhin is one of the most important artists in contemporary photography. Say the least of it: not only has he managed to capture the provocative and controversial era of the 1980s, which came closer to the British rock’n’roll “golden age” than ever in Russian musical history, but he also documented yet another attempt of the rebirth of the rebellious spirit in the noughties. His camera witnessed how Saprykin’s foster children from St. Petersburg and Moscow bars and clubs joined the protest actions of 2011. All of these, from the life of the artistic circle to the lives of prostitutes, fashionistas, members of youth political movements, and Russian generalship, is shown in more than 15 author’s editions of the photographer.

This year will bring us yet another book, and several months before its publication the exhibition at Rosphoto will give a chance to get acquainted with Igor Moukhin’s vision of rock’n’roll of the times when Komsomol youth remembered Lenin’s name more and more seldom but visited the Leningrad Rock Club concerts more and more often. The photographs presented at the exhibition include famous shots along with the rare ones from the remaining negatives made in the USSR that were not published before. The displayed works include original prints from the 1980s, contact prints from film negatives of the 1986-1988s, and modern large format exhibition prints. The pictures of the rock crowd complemented by the photographs depicting daily life in Leningrad and Moscow of that time present a unique historical material about the ending period of the USSR.