AES+F

This is the second extensive monograph dedicated to the internationally acclaimed Russian artist collective: AES+F. Since 1987, AES+F have been working at the inter-section of painting, sculpture, photography, video, and new technologies. They achieved worldwide acclaim in the Russian Pavilion at the 52nd Biennale di Venezia in 2007 with their provocative, other-worldly Last Riot (2007), the first of their signature large-scale, multichannel video installations. Always pushing the boundaries of their practice, between 2016 and 2019 the collective also worked on video set designs for theater and opera. Their visual journey is articulated into three chrono-logical sections corresponding to the most significant shifts in their conceptual evolution, covering their practice from 1995 to 2020: from Islamic Project to Last Riot; from The Feast of Trimalchio to Inverso Mundus; and after Inverso Mundus. The two editors highlight their sources of inspiration, spanning Antiquity to the Renaissance, Neoclassicism and Pop Art, while the four contributors contextualize their practices within recent trends in the international art scene. The publication also includes an interview “roundtable” section with questions from various cultural practitioners, moderated by Olga Sviblova. The volume sheds light on the psychoanalytic approach that underlies their language and provocations, intended to induce a process of self-reflection in the viewer, changing their perception of the world and society.