Alina Kugush's residence
As part of her residency at Gallery 9B, artist Alina Kugush presented a performance titled "Bath Audience." Over 30 people took part in individual "bath audience" sessions with the artist. Remaining in the bathtub throughout, the "Hair Diva" offered visitors a personalized fortune-telling session using floral cards—featuring daily strategies inspired by plants native to Central Russia—or a game of *Durak* (Fool) played with a custom "municipal-art" deck. Standard card ranks—Jack, Queen, King, and Ace—were paired with characters typical of vernacular street art, such as "tire swans," plastic-bottle flowers, and whimsical soft toys. The intimate bathroom setting greeted viewers with an unusual atmosphere, drawing attention to the space's specific features, such as the bathtub’s claw feet and floral tiling.
BACKGROUND:
Alina Kugush was born and is based in St. Petersburg. She studied in the Graphic Arts Department at the Repin Academy of Arts (Leonid Tskhe’s studio) and is a graduate of the PRO ARTE Foundation’s School for Young Artists. She participated in the School of Active Drawing and Performative Posing run by the "Sever 7" (North 7) group. She is a guest lecturer and curator of the "Fundamentals of Contemporary Painting" course at the Moscow School of Contemporary Art. Her projects have been exhibited in the Open Storage area of the Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, at the Tretyakov Gallery’s Samara branch, and at various galleries and spaces in Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, and Tula, as well as abroad.
The Nizhny Novgorod Region art residency program is implemented with the support of the Government of the Nizhny Novgorod Region and ANO "Center 800".
BACKGROUND:
Alina Kugush was born and is based in St. Petersburg. She studied in the Graphic Arts Department at the Repin Academy of Arts (Leonid Tskhe’s studio) and is a graduate of the PRO ARTE Foundation’s School for Young Artists. She participated in the School of Active Drawing and Performative Posing run by the "Sever 7" (North 7) group. She is a guest lecturer and curator of the "Fundamentals of Contemporary Painting" course at the Moscow School of Contemporary Art. Her projects have been exhibited in the Open Storage area of the Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, at the Tretyakov Gallery’s Samara branch, and at various galleries and spaces in Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, and Tula, as well as abroad.
The Nizhny Novgorod Region art residency program is implemented with the support of the Government of the Nizhny Novgorod Region and ANO "Center 800".
