Erarta Museum of Modern Art
Erarta Museum was opened in May 2010 and immediately became the largest Russian non-state museum of contemporary art. It stands out from the old museum community by the novelty of its presentation, new names and forms, variety and breadth of expositions, convenience of its internal structure, interesting and unusual design. Its creators believe that our time should become an era of art – the Art Era, hence the sonorous name of the museum, which is nestled in a completely rebuilt five-story building of a former Soviet-era scientific institute with a total area of about 8,000 square meters. m.
.General Information
The Erarta collection includes about 2000 works by more than 140 Russian artists from different regions of the country, representing completely different directions in art. Here you can see not only paintings, but also graphics, sculpture, original installations and other products of creative thought of contemporary artists.
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In one wing of the building there is a permanent exposition, in the other wing there are commercial galleries (you can visit them for free). On the stairs of the galleries’ building is a fascinating sight – self-portraits of the artists exhibited here, painted in dozens of different techniques and styles, uniquely representing each author as a person and as a creative personality.
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In addition, Erarta has an art studio where you can order a high-quality copy from any image you like, and two movie rooms showing art cartoons and author’s video art. On the third floor, a large triple plasma shows a rich collection of electronic images. The eight halls of the museum house experimental U-space spaces, the task of which is to evoke a personal associative series for each viewer. In short, lovers of contemporary art have a lot to do here! And tired of the abundance of art objects, you can have a rest at the restaurant “Aivazovsky” or cafe “Art-dot. RU”, as well as visit a souvenir and bookstore..
Almost simultaneously with Erarta, another private museum of contemporary art opened in St. Petersburg in the summer of 2010, also on Vasilievsky Island. Without wisecracking, its creators called it simply the New Museum.