Seqiences, As You Can See: Conceptual Works from the Dodge Collection

This exhibition examines Soviet conceptual art in the 1970s and 1980s—one of the most important movements in nonconformist art in the former Soviet Union. Different tendencies of Soviet conceptualism are represented: from the "metaphysical anarchism" of Ilya Kabakov, Viktor Pivovarov, and Eduard Gorokhovsky, to the sots art of Vitaly Komar and Alexander Melamid, to the ArtArt (apartment art) of Nikita Alekseev and Sven Gundlakh. Also included is photo documentation of various conceptual performances by, among others, the KD (Collective Actions) group, led by Andrei Monastyrsky, and works representing several tendencies of the late 1980s, which question the Conceptualism of previous generations, and replace it with more ironic art. The works is this show are organized in sequences based on visual/verbal simultaneity rather than on the continuation of a classical literary or graphic narrative. They pose questions concerning issues of authorship, production, and of meaning in art.

Sequences: As You Can See is a tribute to artists working in an era of dramatic and courageous activity, seeking freedom of expression which helped to undermine the monolithic authority of the totalitarian Soviet regime. Other artists included in the show are Valerii and Rimma Gerlovins, Georgy Kiesewalter, Leonhard Lapin, Yurii Leiderman, and Vadim Zakharov.

Curated by Marek Bartelik, guest curator.