Igor & Svetlana Kopystiansky

Igor & Svetlana Kopystiansky Cv

Igor and Svetlana Kopystiansky have collaborated and co-authored many important and widely exhibited works, such as their major video installations Incidents (1996/7) and Fog (1999/2000). At the same time they have their own independent practices, and have developed distinctive languages and bodies of works. Their work is rooted in a deep knowledge and understanding of historical practices, such as constructivism and avant-garde theatre, but is also highly poetical and playful. Many of their recent collaborative works, realised as video, photography or slide projection, deal with the issue of time, and often present a powerful tension between two visions and trajectories, which can hardly be unified in an individual object or view. Drama and play are set up with the simplest devises, while conceptual strategies are perfectly harmonised with a strong fascination for the visual and tactile qualities of everyday objects and encounters.

Igor & Svetlana Kopystiansky live and work in New York.
Download CV as PDF (159 K)

Igor & Svetlana Kopystiansky Press

A PARALLAX VIEW: SVETLANA, IGOR, AND VICE-VERSA
Text by Barry Schwabsky, published in 'Igor & Svetlana Kopystiansky', EMMA – Espoo Museum of Modern Art, Finland, 2007, p. 50
View PDF (102 K)
Making the Stone Stony: From Alienation to Collaboration...
Text by Anthony Spira, published in 'Igor & Svetlana Kopystiansky', EMMA – Espoo Museum of Modern Art, Finland, 2007, p.29
View PDF (156 K)

Igor & Svetlana Kopystiansky Public Exhibitions

Double fiction / Fiction double
Musée d'Art Moderne de Saint-Etienne Métropole, Saint-Etienne
6 February - 18 April
Curated by Lorand Hegyi
Musée d'Art Moderne de Saint-Etienne Métropole

The installations in this project represent a body of work that explores the temporal flow of everyday activity in and around the streets of New York City. Through the moving image, Svetlana and Igor Kopystiansky have pursued a rigorous inquiry into the perception of time and place. By using as a subject oft-ignored objects in today's world they render the Duchampian notion of the found object into a playful discourse.

The exhibition will feature pieces from the last twelve years that now form a significant body of work included in museum collections such as The Whitney Museum of American Art New York, MoMA New York, Tate Modern London, MMK Frankfurt and AGNSW Sydney, Australia. These major works include 'Incidents', 1996 – 97, 'The Day Before Tomorrow', 1999, 'Fog', 2000 and the recent installation 'Crossroad', 2009. The show will also include a film programme of works based on reflection of methods and ideas of early avant-garde; '16X', 'Steps sole sound', 'White Line' and 'Architecton' from the collection of the Centre Pompidou Paris.

An illustrated catalogue will accompany the exhibition featuring contributions by Lorand Hegyi, the Director of the Musée d"Art Moderne de Saint-Étienne, Philippe-Alain Michaud, Chief Curator for the films at the Mnam Centre Pompidou, and John G. Hanhardt, Consulting Senior curator, Film & Video Smithsonian American Art Museum.

Igor & Svetlana Kopystiansky Images

<i>Pink & White - A Play in Two Time Directions,</i> 2006
8 single channel dvd installation with two channel audio track
Installation view
Espo Museum of Modern Art (EMMA), Finland 8 February - 29 April 2007
Pink & White - A Play in Two Time Directions, 2006 8 single channel dvd installation with two channel audio track Installation view Espo Museum of Modern Art (EMMA), Finland 8 February - 29 April 2007
<i>Pink & White - A Play in Two Time Directions,</i> 2006
8 single channel dvd installation with two channel audio track
Installation view
Espo Museum of Modern Art (EMMA), Finland 8 February - 29 April 2007
Pink & White - A Play in Two Time Directions, 2006 8 single channel dvd installation with two channel audio track Installation view Espo Museum of Modern Art (EMMA), Finland 8 February - 29 April 2007
<i>Still,</i> 2006
16 mm film transferred to video
Installation view
Espo Museum of Modern Art (EMMA), Finland 8 February - 29 April 2007
Still, 2006 16 mm film transferred to video Installation view Espo Museum of Modern Art (EMMA), Finland 8 February - 29 April 2007
<i>The Crash 1, </i>2006
Black and white photographs
71 x 46 x 3 cm
The Crash 1, 2006 Black and white photographs 71 x 46 x 3 cm
<i>Portrait, </i>2006
6 Black and white photographs
69.5 x 68.5 x 2.5 cm
Portrait, 2006 6 Black and white photographs 69.5 x 68.5 x 2.5 cm
<i>Portrait, </i>2006
6 Black and white photographs
69.5 x 68.5 x 2.5 cm
Portrait, 2006 6 Black and white photographs 69.5 x 68.5 x 2.5 cm
<i>526</i>, 2005
6 Projector slide piece (six 35mm slides) 
Dimensions variable
Installation view
Kunsthalle Fridericianum, Kassel
526, 2005 6 Projector slide piece (six 35mm slides) Dimensions variable Installation view Kunsthalle Fridericianum, Kassel
<i>Yellow Sound, </i>2005
Single channel dvd projection (silent)
Installation view
Kunsthalle Fridericianum, Kassel
Yellow Sound, 2005 Single channel dvd projection (silent) Installation view Kunsthalle Fridericianum, Kassel
<i>The Road, </i>2005
Two channel dvd on LCD screens
Installation view
Igor & Svetlana Kopystiansky, 29 & 52-54 Bell Street, 7th July 2006 - 19th August 2006
The Road, 2005 Two channel dvd on LCD screens Installation view Igor & Svetlana Kopystiansky, 29 & 52-54 Bell Street, 7th July 2006 - 19th August 2006
<i>Sandglass - Establishing Shot I,</i> 2005
Two channel projection (silent)
Dimensions variable
Installation view
Kunsthalle Fridericianum, Kassel
Sandglass - Establishing Shot I, 2005 Two channel projection (silent) Dimensions variable Installation view Kunsthalle Fridericianum, Kassel
<i>Sandglass - Establishing Shot II,</i> 2005
Two channel projection (silent)
Dimensions variable
Espo Museum of Modern Art (EMMA), Finland 8 February - 29 April 2007
Sandglass - Establishing Shot II, 2005 Two channel projection (silent) Dimensions variable Espo Museum of Modern Art (EMMA), Finland 8 February - 29 April 2007
<i>Sandglass - Establishing Shot II,</i> 2005
Two channel projection (silent)
Dimensions variable
Espo Museum of Modern Art (EMMA), Finland 8 February - 29 April 2007
Sandglass - Establishing Shot II, 2005 Two channel projection (silent) Dimensions variable Espo Museum of Modern Art (EMMA), Finland 8 February - 29 April 2007
<i>Untitled,</i> 2002
Diptych of C-Type Print on aluminium hung 10cm apart
89 x 89 cm each 
Installation view
Espo Museum of Modern Art (EMMA), Finland 8 February - 29 April 2007
Untitled, 2002 Diptych of C-Type Print on aluminium hung 10cm apart 89 x 89 cm each Installation view Espo Museum of Modern Art (EMMA), Finland 8 February - 29 April 2007
<i>The Day Before Tomorrow , </i>1999
Two screen slide projection with 216 slides
Dimesions variable
Installation view
Kunsthalle Fridericianum, Kassel
The Day Before Tomorrow , 1999 Two screen slide projection with 216 slides Dimesions variable Installation view Kunsthalle Fridericianum, Kassel
<i>Incidents, </i>1996-1997
Single screen or monitor presentation
Dimensions variable
Installation view
Kunsthalle Fridericianum, Kassel
Incidents, 1996-1997 Single screen or monitor presentation Dimensions variable Installation view Kunsthalle Fridericianum, Kassel
<i>Seascape, </i>1984
Oil on canvas with a handwritten text
70 x 90 cm
Seascape, 1984 Oil on canvas with a handwritten text 70 x 90 cm
<i>Cold / Warm Shapes,</i> 1979
Black and white photographs
29 x 30 cm each
Installation view
ESPOO Museum, Finland, 2007
Cold / Warm Shapes, 1979 Black and white photographs 29 x 30 cm each Installation view ESPOO Museum, Finland, 2007
Pictorial Study, 1975
Framed black and white photographs 
54 x 43 x 4 cm each
Installation view
Espo Museum of Modern Art (EMMA), Finland 8 February - 29 April 2007
Pictorial Study, 1975 Framed black and white photographs 54 x 43 x 4 cm each Installation view Espo Museum of Modern Art (EMMA), Finland 8 February - 29 April 2007

Igor & Svetlana Kopystiansky Contact

Sales Enquiries: Louise Hayward louise@lissongallery.com +44 (0)20 7535 0808

Artist Liaison: Alex Logsdail alex@lissongallery.com +44 (0)20 7535 0806