📞 +7 (812) 232-1238
📧 info@russkialbum.ru
Russian Album Foundation, Kvadrat Gallery & St. Petersburg Arts Project Inc.
Anna Frants (USA)
“A Ghanaian Sarcophagus or the Funeral of a Dreamer”
“Among the many inevitable events prepared for each living being, none is shrouded in as deep a mystery as death itself. Since ancient times, the very fact of death has stimulated human imagination, shaping an astonishing diversity of expressions in religion, art, mythology, philosophy, and folklore. This mystery has inspired remarkable architectural monuments scattered across the world—Egypt’s monumental pyramids and sphinxes, its tombs and necropolises; the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus; the temples of the Aztecs, Olmecs, and Maya in pre-Columbian America; and such famous burial sites as the Taj Mahal and the Great Akbar’s tomb.
Most cultures have religious and philosophical systems, ritual customs, and established principles of social organization that help the living come to terms with the death of a group member. In Ghana, it is customary to commission elaborate fantasy coffins shaped like objects meaningful to the deceased—whether a Mercedes or a Buick. We suggest borrowing this idea from Ghanaian villagers and imagining our own…”
About the Artist and Curator
Anna Frants is best known in Russia as the founder of St. Petersburg Arts Project Inc., an initiative aimed at fostering cultural ties between St. Petersburg and the United States. As the head of the project and the owner of Frants Gallery Space in New York (www.frantsgallery.com), she has curated numerous exhibitions in various American cities and St. Petersburg. Among her recent projects are the joint exhibition “Touch Me” (2003, St. Petersburg, Anna Akhmatova Museum at the Fountain House) and the “Vivat, St. Petersburg!” festival dedicated to the city’s 300th anniversary (Baltimore Museum of Contemporary Art, USA). St. Petersburg Arts Project Inc. carries out its initiatives in close collaboration with the Russian Album Foundation in St. Petersburg.
Biography
Anna Frants was born in St. Petersburg and graduated from the Mukhina Academy (Leningrad Higher School of Art and Industry) in 1989. Between 1991 and 1993, she studied computer graphics and animation at Pratt Institute and received top honors in prestigious competitions, including the Autodesk Planet Studio Award for computer animation. From 1993 to 1998, Frants was a leading artist at Music Pen Inc., and in 1993-1995, she founded KUB, Inc., a New York-based company specializing in digital animation and multimedia publishing.
Key Works
- “Mind Rescuers” – an electronic image generator
- “Create Your Own Adventure with Zeke” – an educational computer game
- “Gigglegram” – an interactive tool for creating animated messages
- “Drawing Tool” – educational drawing software for children
- “Swimming” – a three-minute animated film
- “Angel” – a three-minute animated film
Exhibitions & Festivals
- January 2003 – “Red Shift” festival dedicated to Russian filmmakers and animators living abroad, New York
- January 30, 2003 – “The Language of Symbols in Art Space”, Gallery D-137, St. Petersburg
- October 19, 1990, & November 8, 1991 – “Small & Miniature”, Aaron Gallery, Washington, D.C.