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SHADOWS
OF SOCIALIST REALISM
Human during the Stalin purges
Graphics based on photographs of the 1934 Writers’ Congress
Like the whole history, my project, through episodes of personal events, appeals to the contemporary viewer, his/her choices at the current time, when the pressure of ideology becomes obvious
The starting point for the formation of the Soviet literature language can be considered the First Congress of Soviet Writers in 1934, when the socialistic realism was declared the main method. For the project, documentary accuracy is important and the preserved photographs of the congress served as the source material for my graphics. It is impossible to consider this project in isolation from the historical context, it is well known that a huge number of the Congress participants were subsequently repressed, passed through the camps or were shot. A series of artwork reveals the emotionality of persons in one of the most terrible and tense periods of totalitarianism. These are the smiles and applause of the writers and literature critics of Stalin era, shortly before the peak of the mass purges
The series of framed artworks 24x36 inches, dry construction brush, acrylic on paper, 20 pieces
The graphics are accompanied by short biographies of the writers
The writers' biographies by Fyodor Letunovsky (The Gulag History Museum, Moscow, Russia)
Translation of the biographies into English by Nicolai Kirsanov
LIST OF THE PROJECT EXHIBITIONS
Memento Park — Szoborpark Múzeum (Budapest, Hungary)
Curator of the exhibition Judit Holp
Permanent exhibition
Budapest H-1223, Balatoni ut – Szabadkai utca sarok
10:00-16:00
Open Space Gallery (Moscow, Russia)
Curator of the exhibition Elizaveta Savolainen
December 25th 2021 — January 21st 2022
Pleteshkovsky Lane 8 building 1 Moscow 105005
13:00-21:00
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