The research book was released to mark the 20th anniversary of Marina Gisich Gallery and is dedicated to the unique circle of collectors and artists that has developed around the gallery over the past two decades.
The title refers to the canonical text of the British avant-garde artists Gilbert and George “To Be With Art is All We Ask” (1970), which turned 50 in 2020.
What does it mean to "be with art" in our time: a lifestyle, a way of thinking, or just everyday life?
What motivates a collector: consumer psychology, excitement, passion, love? How does an artist understand life with art?
We tried to find answers to these and other questions in the personal stories and reflections of each hero who, for one reason or another, once let art into his life.
The book includes 54 interviews with collectors from Russia, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, the USA and other countries. And also: 36 monologue manifestos by the gallery's artists and the gallery's archive for 20 years.
The text of the manifesto is published in Russian for the first time in the book.
Edited by Elena Yushina
Project coordinator: Galina Leontieva
Graphic design and layout: Faro Design Studio, Irina Chekmareva, Andrey Shelutto, Arina Oblakova
Managing Editor: Andrey Bauman
Editors: Daria Brylevskaya, Olga Ulyanova, Elizaveta Yuzhakova
Proofreaders: Andrey Bauman, Ben Huson
Bill Editor: Galina Leontieva
Russian translation: Olga Ulyanova, Elena Son
English translation: Ben Huson, Simon Patterson, Alastair Gill, Thomas Campbell
Publisher: Autonomous non-profit Organization for the development of Art and culture "Free Artists" (ANO "CX") with the support of the Admiral Logistics Group, 2021
ISBN: 978-5-6044864-7-4