1. Underground Art: Sotsart, Moscow Conceptualism
Utopian Visions: Week 15
Underground Art: Sotsart, Moscow Conceptualism

2. ADVERTISEMENT Sergei Prokofiev Archive at Goldsmiths

3. Outline
Sotsart
Moscow Conceptualism

4. (1) Sotsart
Term comes from Russian sotsialisticheskii (= ‘socialist’, as in ‘socialist realism’) and from English art, as in conceptual art/pop art. Term from Vitaly Komar (*1943) and Alexander Melamid (*1945), among other important practitioners: Erik Bulatov (*1933).

5. (1) Sotsart
Erik Bulatov, The Horizon ( )

6. (1) Sotsart
Komar & Melamid, Double Self Portrait as Young Soviet Pioneers (from Nostalgic Socialist Realism series),

7. (1) Sotsart
Komar & Melamid, The Yalta Conference (from Nostalgic Socialist Realism series),

8. (1) Sotsart
Komar & Melamid, I Saw Stalin Once When I Was a Child (from Nostalgic Socialist Realism series),

9. (1) Sotsart
Komar & Melamid, Stalin and the Muses (from Nostalgic Socialist Realism series),

10. (1) Sotsart
Komar & Melamid Nostalgic View on the Kremlin from Manhattan (from Nostalgic Socialist Realism series),

11. (1) Sotsart
Komar & Melamid, The Wing’s Will Grow (from American Dreams project),

12. (1) Sotsart
Komar & Melamid, Elephant Art Academy’s student, Lampang, Thailand, 1999.

13. (1) Sotsart
Komar & Melamid, Ecollaboration with elephant Rene, Toledo Zoo, Ohio, July, 1995.

14. (1) Sotsart
Komar & Melamid, First ever elephant art auction at Christie's, New York, 1999.

15. (1) Sotsart
Komar & Melamid, America’s Most Wanted (from People’s Choice series), 1994.

16. (1) Sotsart
Komar & Melamid, America’s Most Unwanted (from People’s Choice series), 1994.

17. (1) Sotsart Some characteristics of Sotsart: irony, playfulness
pastiche, quotations
negation of grand narratives—utopias—to entirely remake the world (Marxist etc.). Both Russian avant-garde and socialist realism were such attempts. But the attempt to be non-utopian would be utopian as well  no way out

18. (1) Sotsart
Komar & Melamid as artist association founded in 1967 broke up in What are they up to today?

19. (1) Sotsart
Komar: ‘The Three-Day Weekend , for me, is a symbol of the peaceful coexistence of different peoples and different concepts of faith and spirituality: Friday for Muslims, Saturday for Jews, and Sunday for Christians. The idea to create ecumenical symbols in the form of Universal Mandalas originated in my childhood dreams, and continues the search of the nonconformist art of my youth. In these mandalas, I unite ancient symbols of spirituality with historical and personal images’

20. (1) Sotsart
Melamid: Russian oligarchs and businesspeople Here: portrait of Mark Garber

21. (1) Sotsart
Melamid: rappers (from left to right, Kanye West, 50 Cent, Russell Simmons)

22. (1) Sotsart
Melamid: NYC rabbis

23. In 2008 Melamid declared that he is God: www.melamid.com
(1) Sotsart
In 2008 Melamid declared that he is God:

24. (2) Moscow Conceptualism
Representatives in art: Ilya Kabakov (*1933) et al.
In literature: Dmitri Prigov et al.
Ideas are primary, not art
Intertextuality, intermediality
No distinctions between high and low
No exhibition possibilities

25. (2) Moscow Conceptualism
1974 Bulldozer exhibition. Moscow non-conformist artists presented their work in Bitsevski Park on outskirts of Moscow. Police destroyed exhibition with bulldozers in presence of international journalists.

26. (2) Moscow Conceptualism

27. (2) Moscow Conceptualism
Kabakov’s ten character albums: