History Lesson

Date

Place

Paris

DESCRIPTION

Curator Joseph Backstein has brought together over 20 Russian artists to create an exhibition showing the panorama of Russian art over the last 30 years.

The exhibition has showcased nearly 40 works from the most significant Russian contemporary artists and revealed many recurring themes and preoccupations such as the artists re-interpreting history and celebrating nostalgia. As Joseph Backstein explained: “The work produced throughout the last decades, often reflects the cultural, historical, social and political circumstances under which they were created”.

The exhibition included Konstantin Zvesdochetov's 80s pastiche of 'Liberty Leading the People' by Eugène Delacroix, where Zvezdotchetov painted the ironic representation of Liberty leading the people forward raising a red flag with her head is crowned with the Red Army Budenovka instead of Phrygian cap. This Post-Perestroika spirit of liberation could also be seen in the epic photographs of cult Russian musicians and artists by Sergueï Borissov. Also showing was an installation by the collective AES+F entitled "Suspects, Seven Sinners and Seven Rightous" (1997), which was inspired by real-life events during the 90s. The artists created portraits of 14 young girls, half of which are ordinary school girls and half are from a reformatory institution for serious crime, but the artists don’t make any noticeable distinctions between the girls and leave the viewer to play witness and identify which is righteous and which is a murderer. Not only do the artists presented in the exhibition have reflected the contemporary life which surrounded them at the specific moment in time, but also a sense of nostalgia which has penetrated the layers of Russian society since the 80s, looking back towards an era past.

History Lesson is part of Année France – Russie 2010, the cultural exchange between Russia and France. 


History Lesson
12 – 27 June 2010
Palais de Tokyo, Paris 13 
www.palaisdetokyo.com