About liza fetisova

Let me introduce myself: I am Liza, the Russian redhead. I was born and raised in Moscow, I arrived in Paris in 2001, travelling on the cloud of my culture.

From the very beginning, I noted that the Russian cultural offer in Paris was still limited to matrioshkas and Swan Lake. There was a gap to be filled! Russian contemporary photography, any idea? On my own, I was discovering, step by step, the artists, their works, I was selecting the works possessing a visual and artistic force, contemporary and timeless at the same time. Passion, soul and love are the key concepts to capture this mysterious country. I am convinced that its art is an enlightening mirror of the state of the things and an entrance key to its aprehension. 

When I was little, I wanted to be a crane operator, watch everything from a vertiginous height, and to direct an important process by constructing buildings.

In 2007, I discovered how I can achieve my childhood dream: I opened a photography gallery in Paris. I am a discovering type of gallerist (rare species). By dipping into the chaotic waves of the internet, I observe, I sort, I choose artists, I present their works to the public, to the press and to the collectors.

Many of the artists I represent had their first proper gallery show with Russiantearoom. The most remarkable success was the discovery of Oleg DOU, one of the brightest of his generation, with his own signature and vision. But I also showed Sergey Maximishin photographs outside of photojournalistic context, his images being true tableaux. Or I reintrouduced to the new public the master of humanist photography Antanas Sutkus, with several exhibitions, and strong publications in Le Monde, Figaro, Images, Eyemazing.

I am a "merchant of love".

Really beautiful encounters happened in my gallery, between a work  and a human, when humans fell in love with works… A work has a soul, a work can be loved or hated, sometimes worshipped or it can harm you: I gues that it is a living being. 

But also, I am a redhead witch.

I know how to listen to the voice of objects, I know how to animate and to bring to life places, select the right ingredients to make a nice potion of the exhibition. In short, I am also a kind of artist, I create multifaceted exhibitions, where the works speak to each other, contradict each other... Where the whole is not equal to the simple total of elements, but becomes a work of art in itself, a polyphonic one.

What I am interested in today, is the story telling, through the works, with the works. Using atypical locations, in a pop-up version. I know quite well, since 10 years, the gallerist sedentery way of life, that, it seems to me, does not correspond to the actual world rapid changes. It is exciting to invent a new model, to combine the Internet presence with the physical contact with people, in real life. When you see 'live' somebody's (looking at the presented works) eye that is starting to sparkle stronger - yes, he is 'connected', but this time, he has fallen in love! And when, thanks to you, he can bring this real object home, adopt it, cherish it, leg it to his kids, you feel useful. 

Art. Connecting people.