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Author: Yelena Kalinsky
Keywords: apartment exhibition, avant-garde, collecting, non-conformist art
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Costakis surrounded by works from his collection, 1971. Photo: Igor Palmin (courtesy of Igor Palmin).
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Otari Kandaurov painting the portrait of Costakis, with daughter Katya, Moscow, 1970. Photo: Igor Palmin (courtesy Igor Palmin).
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Costakis with the American sculptor George Segal, Moscow, 1977. Photo: Igor Palmin (courtesy of Igor Palmin).
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Art historian Margarita Tupitsyn, Costakis, and artist Lydia Masterkov at the birthday party of artist Genrikh Khudyakov, 1971. Photo: Igor Palmin (courtesy of Igor Palmin).
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Artists at the farewell party for Costakis, 19 March 1977. Photo: Igor Palmin (courtesy of Igor Palmin).
Date: 1950s-1977
Artists in the collection: Vasily Kandinsky, Ivan Kliun, Dmitri Krasnopevtsev, Kazimir Malevich, Lyubov Popova, Ivan Puni, Aleksandr Rodchenko, Olga Rozanova, Anatoly Zverev, among many others
Location: Costakis apartment, Prospekt Vernadskogo, Moscow
George Costakis (Georgii Dionisovich Kostaki, 1912-1990) began collecting Russian avant-garde art in 1946, when he discovered three paintings by Olga Rozanova in a Moscow studio, and was bitten by the collecting bug. He soon added 15th-17th century Russian icons and the work of young “nonconformist” artists, like Anatoly Zverev and Dmitri Krasnopevtsev, to his roster. Employed at the Canadian embassy as an administrative clerk, Costakis hunted for lost works by such artists as Vasily Kandinsky, Kazimir Malevich, Lyubov Popova, Aleksandr Rodchenko, Ivan Puni, and Ivan Kliun anywhere he could find them, among remaining relatives and tucked away in private rooms and studios around the Soviet Union. At a time when modernist art was hidden from view in the storerooms of Soviet museums, Costakis’s private collection, which he displayed on the walls of his home, became Moscow’s unofficial museum of modern art and a meeting place for international art collectors and art lovers visiting the capital. Regular guests to Costakis’s apartment included nonconformist artists Anatoly Zverev (1931-1986), Oskar Rabin (b. 1928), Dmitri Krasnopevtsev (1924-1995), Dmitri Plavinsky (1937-2012), Vladimir Veisberg (1924-1985), and many others. Costakis’s friendship with the younger artists gave them access to the avant-garde legacy, to which many of their own works aspired and responded. Costakis left the Soviet Union for Greece in 1977, leaving a large portion of his collection as a gift to the Russian people to reside at the State Tretyakov Gallery.
Document: George COSTAKIS – excerpt from memoirs (1993)
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Author: Dovile Tumpytė
Keywords: censorship, non-art venue, non-conformist art, painting
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Linas Katinas’s painting exhibition in the sports hall of the Urban Planning Institute, Vilnius, 1974. Photo: Linas Katinas (courtesy of Linas Katinas).
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Kazimiera (Kazė) Zimblytė’s painting exhibition at the Vaga Publishing House, Vilnius, 1968. Photo: Dainora Juchnevičiūtė (courtesy of Dainora Juchnevičiūtė).
Date: Since 1962
In the period the art historian Elona Lubytė termed ‘silent modernism’ (1962–1982), unofficial exhibitions were held not only in artists’ studios or residences, but also in various non-art institutions that were home to patrons of modern art and exhibition-initiators. Among the most significant institutions were the club of the LSSR (Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic) Writers’ Union, the LSSR State Conservatory, the Urban Planning Institute, the Vaga publishing house (all based in Vilnius), and the Panevėžys Drama Theater, led by the acclaimed director Juozas Miltinis, who cultivated avant-garde ideas in his stage productions. According to contemporaries, the control of the art events that took place inside these institutions was less strict, yet these exhibitions were not advertised by official posters or covered by the press; in other words, they did not receive public attention or official evaluation. Artists’ works were exhibited in lobbies, hallways, offices, and sports and concert halls. Sometimes the unusual exhibition spaces spawned alternative approaches to displaying works of art.
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Author: Dóra Hegyi - Zsuzsa László
Keywords: artist run space, avant-garde, collaboration, conceptual art, environment / installation, irony, non-conformist art, semi-public event, site-specificity
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Miklós Erdély – György Jovánovics – János Major: “János Major’s Coat”
Photo: György Galántai (courtesy of Artpool Art Research Centre)
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Miklós Erdély in the Chapel, above his work “God is Little”,
in the background “János Major’s Coat”
Photo: Júlia Veres (courtesy of Artpool Art Research Centre)
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János Major as a living tomb
Photo: György Galántai
(courtesy of Artpool Art Research Centre)
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János Major as a living tomb
Photo: György Galántai
(courtesy of Artpool Art Research Centre)
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János Major as a living tomb
Photo: György Galántai
(courtesy of Artpool Art Research Centre)
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Tamás Szentjóby in front of his work “Be forbidden!”
Photo: György Galántai (courtesy of Artpool Art Research Centre)
Date: 24 June 1973
Participants: László Beke (1944), Miklós Erdély (1928-1986), György Jovánovics(1939), Péter Legéndy (1948), János Major (1936-2008), Gyula Pauer (1941), Tamás Szentjóby (1944)
Location: Chapel Studio of György Galántai, Balatonboglár
This exhibition – presented two months before the Chapel Studio was occupied and closed by the police – did not have any title and was completed spontaneously with works and actions during two weeks. The works exhibited were used as props for theatrical performances in the next few weeks.
Documents:
Miklós Erdély: What is avantgardism? (1973)
Tamás St. Auby – interview (1998)
György Jovánovics – interview (1998)
Source: Törvénytelen avantgárd. Galántai György balatonboglári kápolnaműterme 1970–1973 [Illegal Avant-garde, the Balatonboglár Chapel Studio of György Galántai 1970–1973], eds. Júlia Klaniczay and Edit Sasvári (Artpool–Balassi, Budapest, 2003): 150-5.
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Author: Yelena Kalinsky
Keywords: censorship, non-conformist art, outdoor event, unofficial event
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Authorities attack artists and audiences with water cannon. Photo: Vladimir Sichov (courtesy of Igor Shelkovsky).
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Destroyed works by Lydia Masterkova and others. Photo: Igor Palmin (courtesy of Igor Palmin).
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Artists set up. Lydia Masterkova, center. Photo: Igor Palmin (courtesy of Igor Palmin).
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Artists and public. Photo: Igor Palmin (courtesy of Igor Palmin).
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Artists and public. Photo: Igor Palmin (courtesy of Igor Palmin).
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Invitation to the First Fall Outdoor Exhibition of Paintings (courtesy of Vitaly Komar).
Date: Bulldozer Show – 15 September 1974; Izmailovsky Park – 29 September 1974
Participants: Oskar Rabin, Evgeny Rukhin, Vladimir Nemukhin, Lydia Masterkova, Nadezhda Elskaya, Yuri Zharkikh, Aleksandr Rabin, Alexander Melamid, Vitaly Komar, Viktor Tupitsyn, and others
Organized by: Oskar Rabin and Aleksandr Glezer
Location: Bulldozer Exhibition – Profsoyuznaya Street and Ostrovityanova Street, Beliaevo, Moscow; Izmailovsky Park Exihibition – Izmailovsky Park, Moscow
The Bulldozer and Izmailovsky Park exhibitions were pivotal episodes in the history of unofficial Soviet art. A small group of artists, led by painter Oskar Rabin and poet and collector of underground art, Aleksandr Glezer, attempted to stage the First Fall Outdoor Exhibition of Paintings on an empty site on the outskirts of Moscow. Several participants were detained on the way to the show, and the rest were met by militia with dump trucks, bulldozers, and “volunteer workers” who announced that they were building a park on the site. The spectators–around 400 artists, local residents, as well as Western journalists and diplomats–were asked to leave, and the scene turned violent when the “workers” charged at the artists, knocking their works to the ground to be destroyed. Several foreign journalists were beaten; police arrested Oskar and Aleksandr Rabin, Rukhin, Elskaia, and Tupitsyn; and twelve spectators were taken for interrogations. While the Soviet press called the show a “provocation” intended to harbor anti-Soviet sentiment, front-page coverage in the foreign press highlighting the violence and objections from the US embassy in Moscow put pressure on the Moscow authorities to ease their stance. As a result, the Second Fall Outdoor Exhibition of Paintings was allowed to take place two weeks later on 29 September 1974 in Izmailovsky Park, for which the show takes its more common name. It lasted for four hours, was seen by hundreds of spectators, and was the first uninterrupted public display of unofficial art in the Soviet Union, albeit not without repercussions. Many of the original participants of the Bulldozer show were persecuted or exiled, and several died under mysterious circumstances. Exhibitions of unofficial art began to be mounted through the new Painting Section of the Graphic Arts Union, which was soon established as a means to bring nonconformist art under the management of the official art bureaucracy.
Document: Invitation to the Bulldozer Exhibition (1974)
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Author: Yelena Kalinsky
Keywords: artists’ union, censorship, collective practices, environment / installation, interactivity, non-conformist art, painting, unofficial event
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Mikhail Roshal, Victor Skersis, Gennadii Donskoi performing Hatch Eggs! Photo: Igor Palmin (courtesy of Igor Palmin)
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View of the exhibition opening at DK VDNKh. Photo: Igor Palmin (courtesy of Igor Palmin)
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Father Dmitri Dudko and Father Aleksandr Men at the exhibition at DK VDNKh. Photo: Igor Palmin (courtesy of Igor Palmin)
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Artists installing the exhibition at DK VDNKh. The controversial work titled Hippie Flag by the group Volosy [Hair] can be seen on the center wall. Photo: Igor Palmin (courtesy of Igor Palmin)
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Viewers waiting at the entrance to the exhibition at the Palace of Culture, VDNKh.
Date: 20–30 September 1975
Participants: A total of 122 Moscow artists
Location: DK VDNKh (Dom Kultury, Vystavka Dostizhenii Narodnogo Khoziaistva; Hall of Culture pavilion at the Exhibition of Achievements of the National Economy), Moscow
Organized by: The organizing group at various points in time included Aleksandr Rabin (b. 1951), Larisa Pyatnitskaya, Igor Sinyavin (b. 1933), Eduard Zelenin (1938–2002), Koryun Nahapetyan (1926–1999), Aleksandr Kurkin, Vitaly Komar (b. 1943), Alexander Melamid (b. 1945), Mikhail Odnoralov (b. 1944), Maksim Dubakh, Borukh (Boris Shteinberg, 1938-2003), Lev Bruni (1950–2011), Vyacheslav Koleichuk (b. 1941), Vitaly Linitsky (b. 1934), Yakov Levinshtein (b. 1923), E. Kovaikina, Tatiana Kolodzei (b. 1947), and Leonid Talochkin (1936–2002).
After the Bulldozer and Izmailovsky Park exhibitions that took place in the autumn of 1974, some unofficial artists were emboldened to seek more opportunities to show their work in public. Their efforts resulted in a series of significant exhibitions the following year that included an exhibition of painting at the Beekeeping Pavilion, DK VDNKh on February 19–22, 1975, by twenty Moscow-based artists. A two-part apartment exhibition series titled “Apartment Previews in Advance of the All-Union Exhibition” also took place at private addresses in the hope of convincing the Ministry of Culture to mount a union-wide exhibition. (First exhibition: March 29–April 5, 1975, eight apartments, 132 artists, 741 works; Second exhibition: April 23–27, 1975, six apartments, 163 artists, 726 works). Finally, the “Exhibition of Works by Moscow Artists” at DK VDNKh took place September 20–30, 1975. Each exhibition was not without difficulty. Local authorities used many tactics to intimidate artists and limit participation including the exclusion of artists not based in Moscow, threats to participants (i.e., Nadezhda Elskaia was threatened with the removal of her daughter; others with loss of work or living space; threat of psychiatric intervention), delays with the hanging of the show or difficulty installing the works, and obstacles created for the public audience members such as long queues, closed cafes and toilets. A total of 145 unofficial artists submitted artworks for the exhibition, but after much back-and-forth between the group of organizers and the administration, only 122 Moscow artists were allowed to participate. The exhibition at the DK VDNKh attracted huge crowds who were forced to wait in line for hours to gain entry. Two of the more controversial works exhibited were Hippie Flag by the group Volosy [Hair], and the action Hatch Eggs! by the collaborative trio of Mikhail Roshal (1956–2007), Victor Skersis (b. 1956), and Gennady Donskoi (b. 1956) who were later called the Nest. The latter work consisted of a pile of branches and leaves in the shape of a nest, two meters in diameter, and was installed directly on the floor of the exhibition hall. Viewers were invited to sit in the structure in order to “hatch eggs”; signs nearby stated: “Quiet! Experiment in progress!” According to Roshal, the Ministry of Culture had threatened to remove Hatch Eggs!, but the other exhibitors refused to help and it remained in place, becoming a place where people would sit, eat, drink, and socialize. Eventually, the work was destroyed when the authorities declared it a fire hazard and soaked it with a fire extinguisher.
See I. Alpatova, L. Talochkin, and N. Tamruchi, eds., “Drugoe iskusstvo”: Moskva, 1956–1988 (Moscow: Galart, 2005).
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Author: "pARTisan"/ Olga Kopenkina
Keywords: censorship, environment / installation, irony, non-conformist art, political reflection, site-specificity
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Poster for exhibition “On Kalektarnaya”. Hall of the Institute “Minskgramadzianproject”, Kalektarnaya street, Minsk. September 1987. From archive of Adrej Plesanov. Courtesy: Journal “pARTisan”.
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“On Kalektarnaja”. 1987. View of the exhibition. From archive of Adrej Plesanov. Courtesy: Journal “pARTisan”.
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“On Kalektarnaja”. 1987. View of the exhibition. From archive of Adrej Plesanov. Courtesy: Journal “pARTisan”.
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“On Kalektarnaja”. 1987. View of the exhibition. From archive of Adrej Plesanov. Courtesy: Journal “pARTisan”.
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“On Kalektarnaja”, Minsk, 1987. View of the exhibition. From archive of Adrej Plesanov. Courtesy: Journal “pARTisan”.
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Exhibition “On Kalektarnaja”, Minsk, 1987. Artur Klinau is giving interview. From archive of Artur Klinau. Courtesy: Journal “pARTisan”.
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Exhibition “On Kalektarnaja”, Minsk, 1987. Participants of the exhibition. From archive of Adrej Plesanov. Courtesy: Journal “pARTisan”.
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Exhibition “On Kalektarnaja”, Minsk, 1987. “Patriarch” by Vitaly Rozhkov (a.k.a. Bismark), oil painting. Courtesy: “pARTisan.”
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Exhibition “On Kalektarnaja”, Minsk, 1987. “Murder on Kastrychnickaja Street” by Artur Klinov, oil painting. Courtesy: “pARTisan.”
Date: September–November 1987
Participants: Aliaksej Zhdanau, Todar Kopsha, Artur Klinau, Andrej Pliasanau, Vital Razhkou
Organizer: Forma, the alternative artists collective
Location: Minskgramadzanproject Institute, Kalektarnaya street, Minsk
This exhibition introduced a non-conformist approach to space organization. It stirred up an official criticism, which resulted in several attempts to close down the show. A telegram asking for support was sent to Raisa Gorbacheva (the wife of the head of the USSR government). It read: “Dear Mrs. Raisa Gorbacheva! The first exhibition of young painters was opened in Minsk but the authorities are trying to shut it down. Please, protect our cultural endeavors!”
Document: Nataliya TATUR: Exhibition on Kalektarnaya, 4—Fragments From the Book of Remembrance (2004)
Source: Volha Archipava. Belarusian Avant-garde of the 1980s. ‘pARTisan’s Collection’ series. Minsk 2012. http://partisanmag.by/
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