Vladimir Mishukov

Neon dreams

Vladimir Mishukov

Neon Dreams

As part of the ‘Photobiennale-2020’ the Multimedia Art Museum, Moscow presents ‘Neon Dreams’, an exhibition by Vladimir Mishukov. This project by the photographer was awarded the Grand Prix for the best photoreportage about Moscow at the 2003 ‘Silver Camera’ competition, in the ‘Faces’ category.

Perestroika and the August 1991 coup that followed brought a tectonic shift in the history of our country. Along with the USSR, which had seemed unshakeable, Soviet ideology and traditions that had endured for 70 years sank into oblivion. In the course of a decade literally everything changed, and naturally the capital, Moscow, also changed. As it bubbled like a vast cauldron the city’s appearance was rapidly transformed, and the faces of Muscovites altered, too. This marked a unique period when supposedly incredible ideas appeared and developed on a daily basis, when the wildest dreams and projects were realised. The desire to capture and document these changes seemed entirely natural and necessary, especially since such traditions already existed in many European capitals in one form or another, and in the late 1990s the idea of the Silver Camera competition, in which both professionals and amateurs could participate, arose at the Moscow House of Photography Museum.

Vladimir Mishukov took part in the first competition, ‘Silver Camera 2001’, and his photographic series immediately won the Grand Prix in the category Events and Everyday Life. In subsequent years he won other nominations, too, and also several times took the prize as audience favourite, for which the entries were strictly anonymous: each series was assigned a serial number and everyone could vote for the works they liked with absolute impartiality.

Vladimir Mishukov managed to express the overwhelming tendency of the decade — this was a period characterised by hope for change and faith in new opportunities. In the Soviet Union the collective dominated the individual. Being ‘dissimilar’ was unacceptable, even dangerous. Children born during Perestroika were spared the pressure of ideology; they believed in themselves, felt that everything was possible. Their faces, their thoughts and desires, formed the basis of the ‘Neon Dreams’ series.

The ‘Neon Dreams’ series reflects Vladimir Mishukov’s interest in vivid characters and moments that reveal the utmost expression of inner freedom. His subjects, young people in the process of growing up, seem striking, diverse and real, and their idealistic, touching or practical dreams take us back two decades, to the 2000s when integration into the global context, economic stabilisation and the country’s upsurge opened doors to a previously unfamiliar world of consumption, allowing us to dream of the impossible and boldly bring it to life.

It would be interesting to know how the fate of these young people has developed, to create a portrait of the modern generation 2010—2020 and see who they are, what they dream about and live for. Perhaps this project will provoke young viewers to a similar analysis. For MAMM, as always, it is extremely important to maintain continuity and complement the photo chronicle of Moscow, and the country as a whole, begun by the museum.

________________________________________________

Vladimir Mishukov (b. 1969) is a well-known Russian photographer, a Member of the Russian Union of Art Photographers and the Moscow Union of Journalists, winner of three Grand Prix for the best photoreportage about Moscow in the Silver Camera competition organised by the Moscow House of Photography Museum, a scholarship holder at Paris City Hall, and constant participant in the festivals ‘Photobiennale’ and ‘Fashion and Style in Photography’. He graduated from the Russian Academy of Theatre Arts with a degree in theatre and cinema. Mishukov collaborates with leading glossy magazines, advertising agencies and design studios. He is the author of photographic albums such as ‘Cult of the Family’, ‘Full Moon’, ‘Inseparables’, ‘The Return’, etc. Solo exhibitions by Vladimir Mishukov and group exhibitions with his participation have been held with great success in Russia and abroad, in Berlin, Frankfurt, Paris, Lisbon, Brussels and other cities. As an actor Vladimir Mishukov has appeared in various theatre productions and films