Occupying the site of the former 1968 Vremena Goda (Seasons of the Year) Soviet Modernist restaurant in Gorky Park—an architectural preservation project by Rem Koolhaas—Russia’s first archival collection of contemporary Russian art, spanning from the 1950s to the present, is now on display. The institution, the Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, was founded in 2008 by fashion designer, publisher and collector Dasha Zhukova. In addition to exhibition galleries, the museum includes a research center and archive, plus a bookstore and café.
On view through February 7, 2016, the exhibition Structures of Existence: The Cells presents paintings, drawings and large-scale sculptures by Louise Bourgeois, covering seven decades of her work. The show features major works such as the monumental bronze Maman and several pieces from her celebrated series of spider sculptures. Bourgeois was an early pioneer of environmental installation, with roots tracing back to her 1949 solo presentation at New York’s Peridot Gallery. The Garage also runs an active program of educational events, including lectures, workshops, reading groups and creative writing courses.