A local exhibition hall at 26 Oktyabrskaya street that opened 1986 became known as L Gallery in December 1991. Lyubov Salnikova was appointed gallery director, and the art historians Elena Selina and Elena Romanova became its chief curators. The space was still largely financed by local government.
The catalogue for Topography, L Gallery’s first exhibition, features a brief statement explaining the gallery’s mission: ‘The gallery’s main interest lies in Moscow conceptualism: the young artists joining the tradition, as well as the older generation whose works were revolutionary in the time when they were made.’ The gallery’s focus changed dramatically following Elena Selina’s departure in 1994.
L Gallery’s modest collection contains documents relating to the exhibitions held in 1991-1993. This included group exhibitions like Topography, and solo shows of Nikita Alexeev, Yuri Albert, Larisa Rezun-Zvezdochetova, Viktor Pivovarov, Viktor Skersis, and Medical Hermeneutics Inspection group. It also includes transcripts of interviews with Dmitri Gutov, Pavel Pepperstein and Sergei Anoufriev, as well as correspondence with Nikita Alekseev, Elena Elagina, Igor Makarevich and other artists who had their work exhibited at the gallery in the early 1990s.