Family Values

The exposition presents the works by 7 artists of the same family: widely-known nonconformist artist Francisco Infante-Arana, his spouse Nonna Goryunova-Infante, their sons Paquito and Platon, also the spouse of Platon Daria Konovalova-Infante, and the grandsons of Francisco Seraphim and Tikhon.

Visitors are welcome to see photo art, graphic works and multimedia created by the artists. In total, it’s more than 50 works from the collection of Natalia Opaleva — Executive Director of the AZ Museum, and also from the Infante family collection. The exhibition is displayed on all 4 floors of the AZ Museum art space. In May 2022, AZ Museum celebrates its 7th anniversary. The exhibition project “Family Values. Dance” would be the 25th, jubilee project of the Museum.

Natalia Opaleva, Executive Director of the AZ Museum
“Family Values… First association is jewerly, gold and diamonds, silverware, antiquities… In the Infante family, the rarest, most valuable thing is inherited by younger family members — talent; mechanism of how it arises in one’s personality, or, more so, how and whether it could be inherited genetically, has not been really studied enough. Yet in case of the Infante family it is a fact: all of the members are talented”.

Polina Lobachevskaya, curator, Art Director of the AZ Museum:
“The exhibition “Family Values. Dance” displays art works by seven artists. It’s only a part of the diverse family of avant-guard artists bearing the Spanish surname Infante. Each of them, by learning from parents and imbuing with their artistic and aspiring spirit, succeeds in creating something exclusively new. Any holiday in the family of artists becomes an event in the world of the contemporary art. By the way, each member of the family dances really cool. Differently, odd. And all together.”

Francisco Infante-Arana is the contemporary classic of the Russian kinetic art movement, art theorist, who is rightly considered as one of the leading figures of the 2-nd half of the 20th century art. In the 60-s he was engaged in the research of a movement, captured by a photo camera. With his spouse Nonna Goryunova in the 1970-s, Francisco created abstract installations, artifacts in nature landscapes, using mirrors, bouncy elements and optic illusions. The couple’s artworks are in museum collections worldwide: in the State Tretyakov gallery, the Russian Museum, the State Pushkin Museum, The Centre Pompidou in France, The Brooklyn Museum in the US and in many others.

The first-floor design recalls the installation by Francisco Infante and Nonna Goryunova, which was presented at the cultural center of the St. Mark’s Basilica within the Tránsito festival in Italy. Francisco’s workshop is recreated in the exhibition space with 32 works (from different series) hanging on the walls. On the opposite side there are the works of his sons and grandsons: Paquito, Seraphim and Tikhon. As the exhibition curator Polina Lobachevskaya recalls, children constantly were in the workshop: drawing, sculpturing or just simply observing their dad’s and grandad’s work. It is how it goes in the exhibition space: children “observe” dad’s working process.

A part of the displayed works was created especially for the exhibition, including the installation named “Dance” created by Platon Infante and Daria Konovalova-Infante. Being the homage to the painting by Matisse, the installation spreads out its shadows on the whole 2nd floor space.

Platon Infante is the youngest son of Francisco and Nonna. The artist is one of the founders of the art-group “Homourban”, but also known for his performances and films. Platon created video-installations using computer graphics, and starting from 2015 displays his multimedia art objects. To create media art, Platon combines computer graphics with real subjects, so that it turns into a kind of fantasy, balancing on the edge of tactile and visual experiences of human perception.

Daria Konovalova-Infante is an artist, whose first teacher was her father Dmitry Khanin. She studied at the Moscow Secondary Art School for 7 years with, as it turned out later, her future husband Platon Infante. Daria was a bass-guitar player in the music band created by the MSU students (faculty of mechanics), and in the “Ultramarin” band after. In the “Homourban” art-group she worked as a costume director, make-up artist and camerawoman. Starting from 2015, Daria has been actively exhibiting her art.

The third floor of the AZ space is dedicated to Francisco Infante and Nonna Goryunova. It displays the famous series of artworks “Reconstruction of the Starry Sky”. In 1965 Francisco was admiring the stars above the Black sea and decided to try moving his geometric constructions from drawings to the sky. This idea developed into an attempt to reorganize the firmament according to his own laws: using beloved figures and straight lines to structure the stars well. Later, Infante realizes that the starry sky is unavailable for us, and, consequently, is quite impossible to be reconstructed within one’s aesthetics. Therefore, the idea of the reconstruction (not rebuilding) appeared. The series is now in collections of contemporary art museums worldwide, and considered as one of the most renowned works of Infante.

Also, two more works by Paquito Infante, the eldest son of Nonna and Francisco, are presented at the exhibit. Having received art and musical education, Paquito is renowned as an artist, musician, designer and performer.

The AZ Art director Polina Lobachevskaya is linked with Infante family by years of friendship and collaboration, as well as by numerous joint projects, including the exhibition “New Meridian” in the Tretyakov gallery.

Today, not only the elder, but also the younger generation, sons and grandsons Seraphim and Tikhon, carry on their artistic search in the 21st century, affirming and developing “family values” of the Russian Avant-guard.

Several documentaries and other videos, dedicated to the family, are included in the exposition. A vast program for kids, where artists take part, is also planned for the exhibit, as well as art meetings with Francisco Infante.


Authors of the Project:
CEO of the AZ Museum – Natalia Opaleva
Author and curator of the project – Polina Lobachevskaya
Art director — Gennady Sinyov