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artinfo2008 in Review: People of the Year
1. Dasha Zhukova
Russian “it girl” Daria “Dasha” Zhukova may not be the most ubiquitous of art-world players, but she’s notable for the sheer speed of her ascent. Debuting on these pages in April, the 27-year-old oil heiress, former model, and love interest of the billionaire and (momentary) blue-chip art collector Roman Abramovich has made a name for herself by opening the Center for Contemporary Culture Moscow, a.k.a the Garage, Russia’s hottest new art spot, as well as for the numerous art world rumors she’s inspired. Zhukova’s aspirations for the center, housed in a 1926 Constructivist bus garage, are huge. The space launched in September with part of the city’s highly anticipated, multi-venue Ilya and Emilia Kabakov retrospective, collaborated for its second show with übercurator Hans-Ulrich Obrist, is scheduled to exhibit works from the collection of billionaire and Christie’s owner François Pinault in January, and, when complete, will offer facilities for films, lectures, and other cultural events as well. If Zhukova has her way — and there’s no reason to think she won’t — the Garage will become a driving force not only in bringing art and culture to younger Russians, but in bringing the art world at large to Russia. (Larry Gagosian personally thanked her in September for creating such a receptive environment in Moscow.) As she told Art+Auction not long ago, “I want to bring the best international contemporary art to the Garage to help make Moscow as important an art world center as London and New York.”
