Anna Andreeva
News:
March 25 – July 18, 2023
Anna Andreeva (Group Show), Retrotopia. Design for Socialist Spaces, Kunstgewerbemuseum, Berlin (DE)

Anna Andreeva
Decorative Textile for the Club of Energetics, 1967
Textile with silver thread and tempera
190 × 133 cm
Courtesy the Museum of Modern Art, New York
Digital Image © 2022 The Museum of Modern Art, New York

Anna Andreeva
Decorative Textile for the Club of Energetics, 1967 (detail)
Textile with silver thread and tempera
190 × 133 cm
Courtesy the Museum of Modern Art, New York
Digital Image © 2022 The Museum of Modern Art, New York
Anna Andreeva (1917-2008) was a leading designer at one of the most prestigious state textile factories in the Soviet Union, the Red Rose Silk Factory, named after Rosa Luxemburg. Andreeva created hundreds of designs for scarves and fabrics, but her aspirations for the autonomy of art constantly undermined the rigid, oppressive political system. Born near Tambov, about 400 kilometres southeast of Moscow, she studied textile design at Vkhutemas, the famous radical avant-garde art school of the early Soviet era. When she joined the Red Rose Silk Factory in 1941, Anna Andreeva was a young artist, influenced by modernist ideas and ever striving to justify her art in a scientific, if not mathematical sense. She was interested in the relationship between the aesthetics and the material structure of textiles produced by the repetitive process of creating patterns (the irreversible nature of a pattern). Her patterns show no figuration whatsoever and are entirely abstract. These include the geometric cubes of Little Cubes (1969), fabrics featuring assorted combinations of numbers, as well as ornaments inspired by cybernetics, the fashion theory of the time, which appear to cite algorithmic structures – patterns far ahead of their time. Andreeva even pioneered a design that can be likened to a QR code, as early as 1978. Such designs in particular required considerable justification before they could go into production, as abstract art was considered decadent in the former Soviet regime. For some of her abstract designs, such as the overlapping zigzags in the “Electrification” series (Electrification Silver, 1970s) produced from the 1960s to 1974, Andreeva initially had to invent her own narratives in order for them to be accepted by the state censorship authorities. This particular design was initially rejected as “pure abstract propaganda” and it was only when the artist argued that electricity was one of the central pillars of Soviet development that the design was approved and eventually went on to be used for prestigious projects such as the interior design of the state radio building in Moscow.
Other designs such as Electrical Light (1978) and Fireworks (1982) testify to her creative innovation in drawing and her tireless search for new means of expression and the integration of everyday phenomena into the design. Andreeva’s works today represent rare examples of her own Soviet Op Art.
Patricia Grzonka

Anna Andreeva
Electrification, 1974
Mixed media on paper
42 × 57.5 cm

Anna Andreeva
Preliminary drawing for electrification, 1974
Mixed media on paper
21 × 20.5 cm

Anna Andreeva
Electrification, 1970s
Silk
25 × 20 cm

Anna Andreeva
Preliminary Drawing for Electrification Gold, 1970
Ink, gouache and pencil on paper
40 × 28 cm (framed)

Anna Andreeva
Electrification Silver, 1970s
Ink, gouache and pencil on paper
145 × 90 cm (framed)

Anna Andreeva
Study for Decorative Textile for the Club of Energetics, c. 1967
Tempera on paper
approx. 30 × 20 cm
Courtesy the Museum of Modern Art, New York
Digital Image © 2022 The Museum of Modern Art, New York

Anna Andreeva
Study for Decorative Textile for the Club of Energetics, c. 1967
Pencil and tempera on paper
approx. 30 × 20 cm
Courtesy the Museum of Modern Art, New York
Digital Image © 2022 The Museum of Modern Art, New York

Anna Andreeva
Cubes (design for children's textile), c. 1960s
Tempera, crayon, and collage on paper
20.5 × 20.2 cm
Courtesy the Museum of Modern Art, New York
Digital Image © 2022 The Museum of Modern Art, New York

Anna Andreeva
Pure, 1960s
Gouache and pencil on paper
30 × 32 cm
41.5 × 43.5 cm (framed)

Anna Andreeva
Little Cubes (Stars & Planets), 1969
Ink, gouache and pencil on paper
53 × 42 cm
56 × 45 cm (framed)

Anna Andreeva
Little Cubes (Sports), 1969
Ink, gouache and pencil on paper
52 × 62 cm (framed)

Anna Andreeva
Little Cubes (Numbers), 1978
Ink, gouache and pencil on paper
43 × 43.5 cm
49 × 49.5 cm (framed)

Anna Andreeva
Little Cubes (Alphabet), 1965
Ink, gouache and pencil on paper
43 × 44 cm
50 × 51 cm (framed)

Anna Andreeva
“Kubiki” (little cubes), Design for Childrens fabric, 1968
Ink, gouache, lithograph stone on paper
51.5 × 19.5 cm
57.5 × 25.5 cm (framed)

Anna Andreeva
1/2 of the Moon, 1961
Ink and gouache on special gosznak paper
52 × 52 cm
58 × 58 cm (framed)
Seilerstaette
the future looms, curated by Elisa R. Linn & Lennart Wolff
Anna Andreeva, Jordan/Martin Hell, Charlotte Johannesson, Lorenza Longhi, VNS Matrix, Melika Ngombe Kolongo
Curated by, Vienna. The gallery festival with international curators in Vienna.
September 10 – October 22, 2022

Anna Andreeva
Glory to the First Cosmonaut, 1961
Ink, tempera, and mixed media on paper
65 × 64 cm
Courtesy the Museum of Modern Art, New York
Digital Image © 2022 The Museum of Modern Art, New York

Anna Andreeva
World Congress of Women, Moscow (Design for commemorative silk scarf), 1963
Ink, tempera, and collage on paper
65 × 65.5 cm
Courtesy the Museum of Modern Art, New York
Digital Image © 2022 The Museum of Modern Art, New York

Anna Andreeva
Reflections on Surface, 1960s
Gouache on tracing paper

Anna Andreeva
Reflections on Surface, 1960s
Gouache on tracing paper

Anna Andreeva
Reflections on Surface, 1960s
Gouache on tracing paper

Anna Andreeva
City Lights, 1960s
Gouache on paper

Anna Andreeva
City Lights, 1960s
Gouache on paper

Anna Andreeva
Surfaces, 1965
Ink, gouache and pencil on paper
58 × 43 cm
64 × 49 cm (framed)

Anna Andreeva
Cybernetics, 1960s
Ink, gouache and pencil on tracing paper

Anna Andreeva
Cybernetics, 1960s
Ink, gouache and pencil on paper

Anna Andreeva
Fireworks, 1982
Mixed media on paper
46,5 × 36 cm
56,5 × 46,5 cm (framed)

Anna Andreeva
Fireworks, 1980s
Mixed media on paper

Anna Andreeva
Monochrome Geometry, 1967
Gouache and pencil on paper

Anna Andreeva
Monochrome Geometry, 1970s
Gouache and pencil on paper

Anna Andreeva
Optical Art - Playing with Mathematics, 1970s
Gouache and pencil on paper

Anna Andreeva
Geometric Pattern “Formulas” (Q-R Code), 1978
Perforation, ink and gouache on paper

Anna Andreeva
Geometric Pattern “Formulas” (Q-R Code), 1978
Perforation, ink and gouache on paper
62 × 86 cm

Anna Andreeva
Geometric Pattern “Formulas” (Q-R Code), 1970s
Ink and gouache on paper
53 × 53 cm

Anna Andreeva
Geometric Pattern “Formulas” (Q-R Code), 1970s
Ink and gouache on paper
52 × 52 cm

Anna Andreeva
Exercise with Circles and Rhombus, collaboration with Tatiana Andreeva, 1974
Ink, gouache, silver pigment on paper
71 × 61 cm

Anna Andreeva
Exercise with Circles and Rhombus, collaboration with Tatiana Andreeva, 1974
Ink, gouache, pigment on paper
71 × 61 cm

Anna Andreeva
Electrical Light, 1978
Gouache on paper
100 × 86 cm
107 × 93 cm (framed)

Anna Andreeva
Urban Sky, 1970s
Gouache on paper

Anna Andreeva
Urban Sky, 1970s
Gouache on paper

Anna Andreeva
Urban Sky, 1970s
Silk

Anna Andreeva
STCU. Design for the Union of Scientific and Technical Creativity of Youth, 1974
Mixed media on paper
64 × 65 cm

Anna Andreeva
STCU. Design for the Union of Scientific and Technical Creativity of Youth, 1974
Mixed media on paper
21 × 23.5 cm

Anna Andreeva
STCU. Design for the Union of Scientific and Technical Creativity of Youth, 1974 (verso)
Mixed media on paper
21 × 23.5 cm

Anna Andreeva
Radio Waves, 1970s
Ink, tempera, mixed media on paper, collage

Anna Andreeva
Radio Waves (Black/Green/Blue), 1974
Ink, tempera, mixed media on paper, collage
88.5 × 48 cm

Anna Andreeva
Radio Waves, 1970s
Ink, tempera, mixed media on paper, collage
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Patricia Grzonka, Designerin Anna Andreeva. Die Quelle der "Soft Power", in: Monopol Magazin für Kunst und Leben (November 2022)
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Samuel Goff, Fabric Cybernetics, in: Tribune Mag (August 2020)
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Top Five Acquisitions in June, The Art Newspaper (June 2019)
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Matylda Krzykowski, Strategies for Total Patterns, in: Maharam Stories
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Anna Andreeva at MOMA collection
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Paula Erizanu, How Soviet artist Anna Andreeva found freedom from state censors in fabric, Calvert Journal (September 2020)
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The Soviet Textile Artist Who Wove Together Technology and the Avant-Garde, in: Elephant Art (August 2020)
Anna Andreeva
*1917 in Tambov, Russia
† 2008 in Moscow, Russia
Selected Exhibitions
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2023
Anna Andreeva, Layr, Vienna (AT) (upcoming)
Retrotopia. Design for Socialist Spaces, Kunstgewerbemuseum, Berlin (DE) (upcoming) -
2022
New Space Show, Layr, Vienna (AT)
the future looms, curated by Elisa R. Linn & Lennart Wolff, Curated by, Layr, Vienna (AT) -
2020
Everyday Soviet, Zimmerli Art Museum, New Brunswick (NJ)
The Laboratory of the Future: Kinetic Art in Russia, Tretjakov Gallery, Moscow (RU) -
2019
Heritage Gallery, Anna Andreeva. Soviet Op-art. Experimental design of the 1960s, Moscow (RU)
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2015
History of Fashion - From Avant-Garde to Gost, VDNH Museum, Moscow (RU)
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1990
Novaya realnost (New reality), Moscow (RU)
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1988
Novaya realnost (New reality), Kaliningrad (RU)
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1970
Expo, Tokyo (JP)
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1962
Manezh, Moscow (RU)
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1967
Expo, Montreal (CA)