"The Subverted Icon: Images of Power in Soviet Art, 1970-1995"

"The Subverted Icon: Images of Power in Soviet Art (1970-1995"These works offer representations of, and responses to, images of power in late and post-Soviet Russia (1970-1995). Focusing on three major institutions of Soviet culture¿Communism, architecture, and the media¿this exhibition explores the ways in which artists represented, confronted and challenged them through different styles and forms.A number of the selected pieces address the Communist Party overtly; Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin, and Mikhail Gorbachev all appear in their most iconic forms. Other works approach politics more indirectly, raising related questions of culture, consumption, and economics. Architecture is represented both as a means to assert official power through the construction of state-sanctioned buildings, and as a means to flout it through the creation of alternative architectural worlds. Finally, whether through the incorporation of newsprint, advertising, or Hollywood film stars, many of these works also address the pervasiveness of mass media in Russia during this time. Far from rigid, these categories frequently overlap in the objects on display. The resulting interplay offers a glimpse of the cultural and political climate of this period in Russian history.This installation was organized by Professor Pamela Kachurin¿s class, ARTHIST289, 544/RUSSIAN355, 561: Soviet Art after Stalin.