The exhibition shows various interpretations of reality by contemporary artists from Perm. The term ‘reality’ is not the universal category in their works. It appears as a variety of worlds — material, social, imaginary.

The reality on canvases by Alexandr Grekov, Maksim Kayotkin, Maksim Titov and Ivan Lukinykh — representatives of contemporary Realism trend — alarms by its simplicity and boldness; one will see landscapes, genre and indoor scenes. Sculptures by Aleksey Zalazayev have features of abstract art. They are a kind of response that human consciousness gives to the reality which seemed to be the future not long ago — like genetic engineering or substance modification.

The key issue in Rustam Ismagilov’s sculptures and Mikhail Pavlyukevich’s installations is the relationship between visible and imaginary reality. Anton Semakin’s digital art is also about reality transformations: he ends the paradigm of fine art at the cemetery of ‘unknown’ characters by great artists — the Malevich’s peasant, the Tatlin’s sailor. Olga Subbotina reveals her irony about social reality in complicated handmade batiks where simple people create the fundamental vocabulary of everyday life there: a shop assistant, a big fellow in a cap, a model.

The works by the naïve artists Mansur Zakirov, Rudolf Tyurin, Vera Bartova forms the historical part of the exhibition. These works are from the ‘New Collection’ Foundation. Their paintings and polychrome reliefs tell a very special story about reality, daydreams of Stagnation Era and time of changes.