The Fourth Height

 

The Fourth Height was founded in Moscow in 1992 by Katya Kameneva, Dina Kim, and Gala Smirnskaya. The artists took the name of their collective from a 1977 cult film. The film is set during World War II; it’s young heroine embodying the ideal of feminine loyalty and generosity. She volunteers in the war effort and travels to the front where she must complete four challenges in order to achieve perfection. Working under the name The Fourth Height the artists ensure that their work is viewed within the framework of sacred soviet values.

Commenting on mass culture, and particularly gender discourse in post-Soviet Russia, the Fourth Height questions the soviet policy of gender equality that caused a sexless levelling of gender issues, while maintaining and proclaiming the feminine ideal of motherhood.   Often employing Russia’s rich folkloric tradition, the collective draws upon the rhetoric of feminism to examine identity, or the lack there of, and representation in society. 

Katia Kameneva (1971 - )

Katia Kameneva was born in 1971 in Moscow. She has studied at both Moscow’s Russian Modern Humanities University and the Ecole National Superieure de Beaux Arts in Paris. She exhibits widely in Russia and Europe and contributes the art theory journals “Mesto pechaty” and “Obscuri Viri”. She divides her time between Moscow and Paris.

Dina Kim (1970 - )

Dina Kim was born in Moscow in 1970. She studied at the Russian Modern Humanities University in Moscow, graduating in 1989. Since 1994 she has worked to raise awareness of those marginalized within society with such projects as the Ptuch Magazine, the urban festival “Snickers Urbania”, and an independent film production company Uniforce. She continues to live and work in Moscow.

Gala Smirnskaya (1968 - )

Gala Smirnskaya was born in Ryazan in 1968. She studied textiles and graduated form the Textile Academy in 1992. She is a leading fashion stylist, working with all major fashion publications. Smirnskaya lives and works in Moscow.

Selected Exhibitions

2011       The Crown. Pobeda Gallery, Moscow, Russia.

2011       The Crown. Volta, New York, USA.

2011       Double Speak. Utah Museum of Contemporary Art, Salt Lake City, USA.

2010       The History of Gender and Art in Post-Soviet Space. Moscow Museum of Modern Art, Moscow, Russia.

2006       VIP International. VP Studio, Moscow, Russia.

2006       Gene Pool. Iragui Gallery, Paris, France.

2005       First Moscow Biennale of January. The State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia.

2005       The Deeds. VP Studio, Moscow, Russia.

2004       Gene Pool. VP Studio, Art Strelka, Moscow, Russia.

2003       Moscow Photo Biennale. Moscow, Russia.

2002       Art of Feminine. The State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia.

2001       Art Moscow. Central House of Artists, Moscow, Russia.

2001       Fashion and Style in Photography. The State Central Museum of Contemporary History, Moscow, Russia.

2000       Art Moscow. Central House of Artists, Moscow, Russia.

2000       Dynamic Pairs. Art-Manege, Moscow, Russia.

2000       Expoistion d’Art Contemporain Russe des années 90. Chateau d’Orion, France.

1999       Homeland or Death. Zverev Centre for Contemporary Art, Moscow, Russia.

1999       Mad Double. CHA, Moscow, Russia.

1999       The Star of MG. Moscow Art Fair, Central House of Artists, Moscow, Russia.

1998       Fourth Height Wishes You a Happy New Year. PTUCH Magazine, Moscow, Russia.

1997       The Second Point. Phoenix Cultural Centre, Moscow.

1997       My Movies. Aidan Gallery, Moscow, Russia.

1997       Place of Seal. Obscuri Viri Gallery, Moscow, Russia.

1996       Moscow Ice Show. The Patriarch’s Ponds (Patriarshiye Prudy), Moscow, Russia.

1996       The Project is in the Bushes. Aidan Gallery, Moscow, Russia.

1996       Art Against Geography. The State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia.

1995        Strategy… Tactics… Yakut Gallery, Moscow, Russia.

1995        Art of Dying.   Yakut Gallery, Moscow, Russia.

1995        Moscow – Berlin. Akademie der Kunste, Berlin, Germany.

1995        View on the New Paris from Moscow’s Newly Built Apartments. L-Gallery, Moscow, Russia.

1994        Art as Frontier Zone. The Contemporary Art Festival, Sochi Art Museum, Sochi, Russia.

1993        Insenses. Yakut Gallery, Moscow, Russia.