A provocative new exhibition in London is Adult Videos | Adult Movies Onlinehere to show the world that Russian protest art goes beyond the well-known colourful feminism of Pussy Riot.
Pussy Riot's explosive "Punk Prayer" performance in an Orthodox church catapulted them into the international headlines in 2012. Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Maria Alyokhina and Yekaterina Samutsevich were sentenced to two years in prison for that performance, and the world followed their trial as the trio sat defiantly unfazed behind bars in the courtroom.
SEE ALSO: Yep: Russian hackers have targeted everyone from Colin Powell to Pussy Riot to the VaticanSince then, Tolokonnikova and Alyokhina have become outspoken about their mission to improve prisoners' rights (Samutsevich has kept a lower profile). They're well-represented in "Art Riot: Post-Soviet Actionism" at London's Saatchi Gallery. Alongside the show, theatre group Les Enfants Terribles is presenting an immersive show called Inside Pussy Riot, which attempts to have viewers re-live the horrific ordeal the Pussy Riot members went through in prison.
But the exhibition isn't just about Pussy Riot. For years in the post-Soviet world, artists have been using humour and creativity to exercise their freedom of expression in the face of increasing government censorship and a brutal police state.
Many of the works at the exhibition are crude, either in subject matter or composition, but the spirit of defiance comes through and they make their point. The exhibit comes in the year of the 100th anniversary of Russia's October Revolution, and the gallery says that many of the issues the artists face today are comparable to those arising from the rise of the communist state in 1917.
We've rounded up a few of the artists featured. It might even inspire your own resistance spirit.
The Siberian duo Alexander Shaburov and Vyacheslav Mizin use self-deprecation and humour to get their point across. Their "Mash Show 2" series of pictures puts the faces of world leaders and well-known people (oh hi there, Edward Snowden) in some, um, compromising situations. They love making fun of artists and art itself, but they do get in trouble for poking fun at humourless politicians. Russian authorities have seized their work in the past for being "blasphemous" and clearly don't like the jokes.
The gallery features other Siberian artists too, like Vasily Slonov. His installation of axes in the middle of the gallery called "History of Russia in Axes" celebrates the "Siberian Man" as it skewers everything else.
This colourful gallery space showcases images that were created in 1996 as a sort of analysis of Western fears about Islam as the Chechen War began to break out. The textiles show images of "Islamified" world spaces, like the Statue of Liberty with its head covered.
However after the Sept. 11 attacks, the imagery gained new fame, appearing on protesters' placards and popping up in other unlikely spaces outside the world of art.
Oleg Kulik has been well known since the '90s for his "actionism" in performance art. His art usually blends the human and animal (he even lived as a dog in a caged room in New York). He aimed to shake up the commercialisation of art, and to illustrate man's basic animal-like tendencies.
In the post-Putin era he takes on video and curatorial projects, and the artworks on display at the exhibition are a good survey of his entire body of work.
You've probably heard of this guy before. He's the one who nailed a bit of his, um, manhood to Red Square. He also set alight the doors of the building which houses the successor to the Soviet KGB, in a performance called "Threat." It was all captured by photographers and it's part of this exhibition.
One particularly striking part of his section of the exhibition is a reenacted conversation between himself and an interrogator who, after hours of questioning him, became one of his followers. Listening to the discourse on philosophy and art technique makes us realise how much we take for granted in the UK that we can freely discuss these issues.
One of the gallery spaces is devoted to Pussy Riot, and the many artworks created about them and for them. They've become a symbol of the resistance for many people, and the works place them in this heroic context.
At the gallery you can watch their iconic performances, and seeing the works about them really reinforces their point that, "Everyone's an artist."
"In 2012 when the balaclavas were removed from three members of Pussy Riot, the concept of anonymous superheroes was changed, primarily by the state. But what followed was even more significant. Three participants were unmasked, but thanks to the political trial, thousands of people put on balaclavas. Pussy Riot stopped being a group and became a movement," the Saatchi Gallery said in its press release.
And what a colourful movement indeed.
"Art Riot: Post-Soviet Actionism" is on at London's Saatchi gallery from 16 November to 31 December.
Previous:Heart in a Black Box
Best Blink Indoor deal: Save on home security camerasAstrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson is here for legal weedSubstack finally has DMsWordle today: The answer and hints for February 29Don't buy a new MacBook Air, iPad – updates are reportedly around the cornerEven more historic NASA flight footage is up on YouTubeIf you're buying the Kara Swisher book on Amazon, make sure it's not an AIWhere to buy Samsung Galaxy Book 4 series laptopsNothing Phone 2a design revealed: Still transparent, still pretty coolThe White House might have inflated Trump's golf record, because this is how we live nowBest Apple Watch deals: 44mm SE at lowest price everGoogle Trends data shows interest in the total solar eclipse around USGoogle is shutting down the YouTube Kids app for TVThe White House might have inflated Trump's golf record, because this is how we live nowBest Apple Watch deals: 44mm SE at lowest price everNew species of sunfish discovered by scientist in New ZealandThe largest animal ever to walk the Earth gets a nameA nuclear war with North Korea could alter Earth's climate for years.Nothing Phone 2a design revealed: Still transparent, still pretty coolGoogle is shutting down the YouTube Kids app for TV Stupid Is by Sadie Stein The Disappearing Face of New York by Dan Piepenbring Good Taste by Sadie Stein Frederick Seidel on Massimo Tamburini by Dan Piepenbring What We’re Loving: Communism, Climates, Cats On Being a Regular Electronic Musician Andrew Pekler’s Latest Album An Interview with Poet Mary Szybist Photos of Our 2014 Spring Revel Listen to Frederick Seidel read his poem “For Holly Andersen” The Little Bookroom by Sadie Stein George Plimpton’s Famous April Fools’ Day Joke The Morning News Roundup for March 24, 2014 Dirty Parts by Kate Levin The Morning News Roundup for April 3, 2014 Jonathan Lethem on Editing Don Carpenter’s Final Manuscript Peter Matthiessen, 1927 Bull City Redux by Nicole Rudick No Grownups Allowed by Sadie Stein The Morning News Roundup for April 2, 2014
2.0243s , 10180.1328125 kb
Copyright © 2025 Powered by 【Adult Videos | Adult Movies Online】,Wisdom Convergence Information Network