MARS Center

The MARS Centre of Contemporary ArtRussian: Tsentr sovremennogo iskusstva MARS or Центр современного искусства МАРС is one of Moscow’s most unusual galleries displaying the most recent achievements of both Russian and foreign artists. It combines various advanced media to present contemporary art. MARS exhibitions are full of installations using electronic, sound and light technology. The inside of the 2,000-square-metre building will astound you with its unusual layout, and the multimedia devices used in the exhibits create an array of unexpected and fantastic effects. The centre also holds concerts, lectures, workshops, trainings, seminars and presentations.

The MARS centre is located in Pushkaryov LaneRussian: Pushkaryov pereulok or Пушкарёв переулок, near Tsvetnoy BoulevardRussian: Tsvetnoy bul’vard or Цветной бульвар. The building blends in with in the quiet street, nestled amidst other buildings of the early 20th century; once you enter the building, however, you realise that this place is like nothing else. Eight halls distributed between two floors provide space for experimental ways of displaying contemporary art. Most exhibitions in the gallery are interactive and facilitate visitor involvement.

HISTORY AND CONCEPT

The MARS Museum was established in 1988 as the first private art gallery in Russia. A small community of underground artists were its first visitors. In its infancy, the MARS focused on figurative art and other innovative styles but was essentially a classical art gallery with exhibition halls, a shop, and a media centre. However, the evolution of art and the changing tastes of the public necessitated fresh solutions, modernisation, and progress.

The MARS underwent a cultural revolution in 2015: the gallery changed its focus, embarking on multimedia art. Since 2017, the head of the Center for Contemporary Art MARS is Igor Gryaznov. The Centre’s main innovations revolve around digital technology, including video art, sound art, and media performance. Visitors enjoy creating artwork and interacting with it, obtaining the same sense of artistic satisfaction as the artists featured here. The MARS still contains many objects of contemporary art which are less interactive; masterpieces of painting, sculpture and design are still displayed, yet the priority remains viewer engagement.

PRESENT-DAY ACTIVITIES

The gallery focuses on ‘informal arts’—solo, themed and genre-specific exhibitions of paintings, sculptures and photography, movie evenings, concerts and theatrical experiments, for example adding relevant visual and audio sequences, intricate installations and musical performances as a background to the artwork. This way, visitors become involved in the art, and become immersed in works such as Salvador Dali and His Fourth DimensionRussian: Chetvyortoe izmerenie Salvatora Dali or Четвёртое измерение Сальватора Дали.

Permanent exhibitions and regular events held by the MARS gallery include the annual festival of comics CoMissionRussian: KoMissiya or КоМиссия, the youth project The Field of MARSRussian: MARSovo pole or МАРСово поле, the digital art exhibition ArtDigita, etc. Visitors especially favour interactive exhibitions, where you enter an almost unfurnished room and can engage with digital pictures on the walls and the floor with a simple hand movement or by dancing to music. By entering the picture, you transform colours, shapes and background sound. There are also armchairs you can sit in which give you the impression that you are a cosmic body, floating through time and space.

The MARS collaborates with famous video and audio artists, updating its permanent exhibitions all the time. A lot of visitors get the sense that they are creators themselves, equal to artists and their works, the production or reproduction of which they themselves are intricately involved. Digital technology is becoming an alternative to creative thinking, so virtual self-expression in art attracts lots of fans of such museums.

In addition to contemporary art exhibitions, customers are offered guided tours, festivals, live performances, videos, fairs, seminars, and other types of events. You can rent a gallery hall for an occasion or event of your own, making use of presentation equipment and other opportunities provided by the MARS. There is quite an affordable restaurant in the basement and you can also buy some signature items in the gallery: paintings, engravings, sculptures, statuettes, clocks, posters, modern icons, and many other unique artworks.

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