Forestalling the scandalized opinions about he very fact of conducting the exhibition by Aidan Salakhova at XL Gallery, let me observe that we're here interested not just in the phenomenon of the person who combine harmonically both the artist and the gallery owner, but rather in what's the result of such a combination. In fact one might not separate Aidan the artist from Aidan the curator; one is the extension of another and vice versa. Considering this context, her artistic preferences and ways of their realisation deserve a steadfast gaze. Beyond the noisy fame of the gallery owner and an Oriental beauty, one may miss that she is one of the most constant and independent among Moscow artists; she works steadily and organically within the bounds of neo-classicism, even developing this trend at Moscow art scene.

Now there is a matter of commonplace and bon ton in every critical essay and article to yawn a langruous statement about crisis of local art process: Moscow Conceptualism doesn't nourish us with exquisite sensations, radicalism is washed-out, or at least merely expands rather than goes deeper, 'what a bore, gentlemen!', 'I got collywobles', 'everything's the same'... Don't drag in, friends, look around! The ghost of neo-classicism is dawning over Moscow. He's positive and refined, this new- born boy; so distinctly and 'truly' put forward by Aidan, he'll show out soon in all and every sphere of local art scene, from Conceptualism to radicalism, his 'traces' would appear in hard metaphysical installations and in big size directed photography, as well as in unbridled baroque compositions, in minimalist drought and in computer graphics... Is it for good of for evil? It's rather curious. The 'New Acquisitions' by Aidan Salakhova with its classical stories - Leda and the swan, the judgement of Paris, Aphrodite, Hermaphrodites - vaguely guessed through roentgen film, aren't they the psycho- physical models for the forthcoming changes?