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(E-E) Evgenij Kozlov: Exhibitions >> Leningrad 80s • No.114>>
АРТ-РОК-ПАРАД «АССА» / Новая живопись 1980-х годов ART ROCK PARADE “ASSA” / The New Painting of the 1980s Palace of Culture of the Moscow Electric Lamp Plant (ДК МЭЛЗ, DK MELZ), Moscow • 25. 3. to 17. 4. 1988 |
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Artists: From Leningrad
«Новые художники» — Тимур Новиков, Сергей Бугаев-Африка, Инал Савченков, Евгений Козлов, Владислав Гуцевич, Вадим Овчинников, Иван Сотников, Андрей Крисанов, Евгений Юфит, Олег Котельников. New Artists: Timur Novikov, Sergei Bugaev-Afrika, Inal Savchenkov, (E-E) Evgenij Kozlov, Vladislav Gutsevich, Vadim Ovchinnikov, Ivan Sotnikov, Andrei Krisanov, Evgeny Yufit, Oleg Kotelnikov. From Moscow: Сергей Шутов, Юрий Аввакумов, Аркадий Петров, Юрий Петрук, Георгий Пузенков, Мария Серебрякова, Алена Кирцова, Константин Латышев, Константин Звездочетов, Михаил Рошаль, группа «Чемпионы мира», Георгий Острецов, Георгий Литичевский, Наталья Логинова, Светлана Виккерс, Александр Мясников. Sergey Shutov, Yuri Avvakumov, Arkady Petrov, Yuri Petruk, Georgy Puzenkov, Maria Serebriakova, Alena Kirtsova, Konstantin Latyshev, Konstantin Zvezdochetov, Mikhail Roshal, "The Champions of the World" group, Georgy Ostretsov, Georgy Litichevski, Natalia Loginova, Svetlana Vikkers, Aleksandr Miasnikov. Source: Юлия Лебедева, Асса в массы. / Yulia Lebedeva, ASSA to the Masses. |
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Introduction In her article from 2008, written on the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of the release of the Sergey Solevyev's cult film “ASSA", Yuila Lebedeva describes how the film‘s premiere – originally set for November 1987, but then shifted to the end of March 1988 [1] – was promoted not only with with merchandise items, a novelty for Soviet cinema, but also with a large festival called АРТ-РОК-ПАРАД / ART ROCK PARADE, which included concerts, an exhibition, and a fashion show. The movie “ASSA" features the music of Aquarium and Bravo, two Leningrad and Moscow rock bands that had already gained much popularity at that time. Most importantly, it ends with Viktor Tsoy and his band Kino performing Tsoy's emblematic song "We want change", which became the unofficial hymn of perestroika (see also: ASSA on Wikipedia external link >>). It also features artists from the Leningrad New Artists group, in the first place Sergei Bugaev, who played one of the leading roles. The festival, however, presented not only musicians and artists performing in the film, but also many others from the Leningrad and Moscow underground scene, thus creating a celebration of counter-culture. Moscow photographer Sergei Borisov, who was himself related to both Leningrad's and Moscow‘s sub-culture, filmed the opening of the ART ROCK PARADE exhibition "The New Painting of the 1980s", as well as Irene Burmistrova’s "Fashion Show”. The video is available on Misha Buster kompost project’s YouTube Channel External link >>. It displays a large number of exhibits (although by far not all) and some interviews. With regard to the New Artists, the video documents works by Timur Novikov, Inal Svachenkov, Vladilslav Gutsevich, Oleg Kotelnikov, Sergei Bugaev, and two paintings by (E-E) Evgenij Kozlov, “CuCsCaP (One hundred questions and answers)”, a work on paper, and “I want her (and I I)”, painted on textile, from 1987 and 1988, respectively.
[1] «Ассе» вдруг отказали в «Ударнике». Ведь все было готово: напечатана рекламная продукция, придуманы выставка и музыкальная программа. Только не было места, где это показать. Пытаясь спасти дело, Яна Либерис рассказала о проблемах в программе «Взгляд». И через пару месяцев один из «взглядовцев» Дмитрий Захаров подкинул уже отчаявшимся рекламщикам и несколько загрустившему Соловьеву идею с помещением ДК МЭЛЗ, где была театральная сцена. Тогдашний директор ДК Александр Вайнштейн не побоялся у себя молодежной тусовки, в отличие от директора «Ударника» Людвига Ваняна, за три дня до премьеры отказавшегося от показа «Ассы» под предлогом того, что «на правительственной трассе», «прямо напротив Кремля», намечается какой-то непонятный ему шабаш. В итоге вместо ноября 1987-го фильм вышел лишь в конце марта 1988 года. Yulia Lebedeva, ASSA to the Masses, 2008 external link >> |
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(E-E) Evgenij Kozlov’s Paintings Both “CuCsCaP (One hundred questions and answers)” (1987) and “I want her (and I I)” (1988) combine some typical features the artist used and developed around that time – irregular borders of canvas or other surfaces breaking the monotony of rectangular shapes, constructivist elements inspired by the early Soviet avant-garde, stencilled lettering, and graffiti art techniques like spray and motion lines. But they do so in quite specific ways.
CuCsCaP (One hundred questions and answers)
(E-E) Evgenij Kozlov
To transfer this sketch to a painting, Kozlov created a surface consisting of approximately 250 of his vintage prints of Leningrad artists and musicians. He covered these photos with translucent magenta, blue, and yelllow ink, turned the paper upside down, and framed it with strips made from black photo paper bags. Using a large variety of techniques – flat silhouettes, thick filled or unfilled one-colour outlines, dripped or dotted lines, and stencilling – he then applied the figures as described above, completing them with a zigzagging pattern of stars along the upper border, several arrows, stencilled lettering on the lower border, and some other elements. As a result, and despite its formal similarities to Star. 6 Figures, CuCsCaP is much closer to American graffiti art than to Russian constructivism, although we might just as well say that in CuCsCaP, these two styles form a new style. The title might give us a clue. CuCsCaP can be deconstructed as CCCP and USA, and the letters are rhythmically intertwined.
Because the photographs of “CuCsCaP” are arranged in the opposite direction to the motif, the painting can be displayed inverted, with the pictures showing correctly and the composition upside down. This is how Kozlov displayed it in his Leningrad studio “Russkoee Polee / The Russian Field” in 1989 more >>.
I want her (and I I)
In 1988, Kozlov's painting ”I want her (and I I)” was shown twice: In March / April 1988 in Moscow at “The New Painting of the 1980s”, a section of the festival ART ROCK PARADE “ASSA”, and again in August / September 1988 at "The New from Leningrad", which was part of a large New Artists festival at Stockholm's cultural centre "Kulturhuset". The exhibition displayed a total of seven of his paintings more >>. Most of these works travelled further to New Artists exhibtions in Denmark and Liverpool more >>, although ”I want her (and I I)” remained in Stockholm, where it was included in the December 1988 exhibition “Russian Artists from Leningrad at Pierre Munkeborg's antique store more>>. Its wherebouts are unknown, but the design for the upper part of the compostion has been kept in Kozlov's collection.
The constructivist drawing reveals an unusual combination of different perspectives. The buildings, presenting a large factory, are shaped according to the principle of projective geometry, with two vanishing points left and right, while the cars are seen in linear perspective, with one central vanishing point. Yet taken as a whole, the opposing perspectives create a natural effect. Kozlov used the motiv of the factory again in "Love for Woman” from 1989, from the cycle "New Classicals” more >>.
With its play with letters, the lower part of the painting “Хочу Е Я (и ЯЯ) / I want her (and I I)”, refers to a large painting called Я-Я (Ya-Ya or "I-I”) more>>, thus taking up a comic and graffiti style Kozlov had started to develop since 1985 in numerous sketches more>>.
To create irregular borders for the canvas required a technique Kozlov worked out in 1987 for the paintings “Star” and “Star. 6. Figures” with the help of a piping he sewed to the canvas, a piece of textile more>>. In this way, the piping takes over the function of a frame for the composition. Starting in 1988, he applied a ground coat to the surface before applying the composition itself. The artist used these technique mainly up to 1990. Hannelore Fobo, 26 October 2022
Uploaded 26 October 2022
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