The Unwritten History Project Detail Record

Detail Record for Russian Samizdat Art: Rimma Gerlovina, Valeriy Gerlovin, Vagrich Bakhchanyan

Event Title: Russian Samizdat Art
Series Title:
Location: Franklin Furnace
Date: 2/24/1982 - 4/17/1982
Event Type: Installation

Event Documentation:

Russian Samizdat Art	Russian Samizdat Art	Russian Samizdat Art	Russian Samizdat Art
Russian Samizdat Art	Russian Samizdat Art	Russian Samizdat Art	Russian Samizdat Art

Artist Statement:

Bio:

Press Release: Press Release FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE FEBRUARY 24TH THROUGH APRIL 17, 1982, FRANKLIN FURNACE WILL PRESENT RUSSIAN SAMIZDAT ART CURATED BY RIMMA AND VALERY GERLOVIN. OPENING RECEPTION WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 24TH, 6-8 PM, WITH A 10 MINUTE "PERFORMANCE/ACTION" at 8 PM. SAMIZDAT (self-publishing) as a phenomenon began in Russia in the 1960s. This exhibition comprises both books illegally printed and chain-distributed in the Soviet Union as well as works by those Russian artists who continue "self-publishing" in the West by various means. RUSSIAN SAMIZDAT ART, which includes work by 28 artists, reflects the period since the 60s. The curators feel that the cultural artifact which is the samizdat book is completely independent of any outside influence, as a result of the "iron curtain" which separates Soviet artists from Western cultural trends. They find the roots of the Samizdat movement in the Russian Avant-Garde book tradition which flourished between 1910 and 1930, and attribute the movement as well to the deep interest which the intelligentsia had in the books which inspired those artists and writers. Such a syncretic genre as the book-object became very vital and resourceful in the contemporary Soviet environment. A detailed article by the curators describing this movement in the USSR will be published in the Franklin Furnace Flue, Vol. II, no. 2, to appear this spring. RIMMA and VALERY GERLOVIN were born and educated in the Soviet Union and currently reside in New York City. Curators, writers and artists, the two have worked as a team since 1973, while continuing to work individually. The artists in the exhibition include: N. ALEKSEEV, V. BAKHCHANJAN, N. BOKOV, M. CHERNYSHOV, THE GERLOVINS, V. GOROSHKO/E.CLARK, M. GROBMAN, I. KABAKOV, V. KOMAR/A.MELAMID, A. KOSOLAPOV, A. KHVOSTENKO, H. KHUDYKOV, V. KOVSHIN, K. KUZMINSKY, I. MAKAREVICH, A. MONASTYRSKY, C. MORROWKOVSKY, V. NEKRASOV, L. NUSSBERG, D. PRIGOV, L. RUBINSTEIN, L. SOKOV, "TOADSTOOLS," V. TUPITSYN, A. UR, V. ZAYTS. This exhibition is the third in a series of four presented in the 1981-82 season by Franklin Furnace devoted to bookworks from Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. For further information contact Howard Goldstein, Exhibitions Coordinator. Photos available.

Proposal Information:

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