How does one determine the genre of Tatyana Zhurkov's works of art? Probably, like many things in contemporary art, her objects cannot be arranged on a traditional genre scale. They are toys and they are not toys; they are sculptural plastic arts and at the same time they are complex combinations of transparent forms that give the effect of cinematography to objects that look like steam engines, motorcycles or caterpillars.
   Tatyana Zhurkov's objects are not installations, although they could be. From my point of view, works of this artist arc a graphic embodiment of a contemporary world that she sees through she prism of shops full of an enormous variety of glass, plastic, metal, porcelain, and other bright and sparkling materials.

   The exhibition of Tatyana Zhurkov organized by the State Russian Museum, a museum that possesses a marvelous collection of decorative arts and folk arts, is an act of acknowledging through her work, the vitality of the tradition of appealing to play and to toys carried on by artists of many eras. These masters use contemporary materials and an artistic language that correspond to the time in which they live.

Yevgenia Petrova,
Deputy Director
State Russian Museum