(E-E) Ev.g.e.n.i.j ..K.o.z.l.o.     Berlin                                                  


      (E-E) Evgenij Kozlov: Leningrad 80s >>

(E-E) Evgenij Kozlov
“ART from the USSR / ART for the USA.”

Three objects on bus stop signs, 1988
Page 1: Introduction
Page 2: The logotype
Page 3: Leningrad bus stop signs
Page 4: Three objects on bus stop signs

Documentation: Hannelore Fobo, 2019




Art from the USSR: the logotype


While both the USA and the USSR were not unusual topics for Soviet artists, the concept of art coming from the USSR and presented as a gift to the USA was quite unique. Kozlov expressed this concept through a combination of Latin and Cyrillic words: ART из СССР / ART для USA (ART from the USSR / ART for the USA).

The first part of the phrase, Art из CCCP (Art iz SSSR / Art from the USSR), became the logotype for a number of works from that period, especially when attached to a skull shouting these words to the world.

(E-E) Evgenij Kozlov Art from the USSR 1988
(E-E) Evgenij Kozlov
Art from the USSR
Mixed media on offset print on wood
28.6 x 44 x 0.3 cm, 1988

Script as part of a visual art addresses the viewer directly, and Soviet art has becoming famous for its innovative combination of image and text in graphic design, especially for the purpose of propaganda and advertising (Vladimir Mayakovsky, Valentina Kulagina, Gustav Klucis, the Stenberg brothers, to name just a few).

Kozlov's logo is reminiscent of Alexander Rodchenko‘s design of the poster “Books (Please)!” from 1924, yet Kozlov directed his message not to the audience of his own country.

Alexander Rodchenko Books (Please)!, 1924
Alexander Rodchenko Books (Please)!, 1924
(E-E) Evgenij Kozlov Art from the USSR, Handbag (reverse), 1988
(E-E) Evgenij Kozlov Art from the USSR, Handbag (reverse), 1988
With his “Art from the USSR” logo, Kozlov let "the world outside” know that after all those years of state-imposed isolation, Soviet art was again ready to assert its position in international art.

When the artist completed his message with “ART для USA” (“Art for the USA”) in the bus stop series, his target audience became clear: the USA, the main or perhaps only reference point in Soviet ideology.


(E-E) Evgenij Kozlov.
ART из СССР / ART для USAART from the USSR / ART for the USA (Comintern Street / Lenin Boulevard)
two-sided, mixed media on wood
42.5 x 59.9 x 2 cm, 1988


Kozlov's use of words a main graphic and semantic element of the compostion bears ressemblance to Moscow conceptualism.
There is, however, an important difference between Kozlov and Moscow conceptualists. For Moscow conceptualists such as Erik Bulatov and Ilya Kabakov, the question concerning the limitation of social space has become a lifetime concern.

Kozlov dedicated himself to this question during a short period of time – the late perestroika period – and at that moment he was also involved in other projects. His major project from 1989/1990 ”New Classicism” more >> shows that Kozlov approaches art from a philosophical, not from a social point of view.

We may also say Kozlov transforms his subjective experience as a social being into images according to his theory of “Two Cosmic Systems”, whereby the second cosmic system “implies a view of creation as a whole from the Cosmos, as if the artist had been born in space and had completed their complete path of development and formation solely in it.” more >>

(E-E) Evgenij Kozlov Не ходиь / Don't go Oil, marker, and ink on wood 37 x 55.5 x 2.7 cm, 1988


Erik Bulatov
VKHODA NET / No Entrance
Canvas, oil 230x230 cm
The Saatchi Gallery website presents
this version from 2006
more >
(E-E) Evgenij Kozlov
Не ходиь / Don't go
Oil, marker, and ink on wood
37 x 55.5 x 2.7 cm, 1988




Born to Be an Artist. The logotype


Vision magazine, China No. 175, August 2018 "Born to Be an Artist”. Double page from an interview with (E-E) Evgenij Kozlov. The picture of the artist was taken at his studio “Gallaxy Gallery”, Peterhof, 1988. Handbags and fashion are from E-E’s cycle of works Art from the USSR.

Vision magazine, China No. 175, August 2018
"Born to Be an Artist”. Double page from an interview with (E-E) Evgenij Kozlov. more>>
The picture of the artist was taken at his studio “Gallaxy Gallery”, Peterhof, 1988.
Handbags and fashion are from E-E’s cycle of works Art from the USSR.




The logotype Art из CCCP in works from 1988


(E-E) Evgenij Kozlov [Ст]рах Врагам. Огни Петродворца Terror / Peace to the Enemy. The Fires of Petrodvorets 204 x 219 cm, 1989 The Aboa Vetus & Ars Nova Collection, Turku, Finland Photo: Jari Nieminen, 2013

(E-E) Evgenij Kozlov
[Ст]рах Врагам. Огни Петродворца
Terror / Peace to the Enemy. The Fires of Petrodvorets
204 x 219 cm, 1989 The Aboa Vetus & Ars Nova Collection, Turku, Finland
Photo: Jari Nieminen, 2013 . more >> and more >>



(E-E) Evgenij Kozlov АRT ИЗ CCCP / ART FROM THE USSR Oil on canvas, 35 x 50 cm, 1988

(E-E) Evgenij Kozlov
АRT ИЗ CCCP / ART FROM THE USSR
Oil on canvas, 35 x 50 cm, 1988



(E-E) Evgenij Kozlov АRT ИЗ CCCP / ART FROM THE USSR Mixed media on hand embroidery on textile, 95 x 78 cm, 1988


(E-E) Evgenij Kozlov
АRT ИЗ CCCP / ART FROM THE USSR
Mixed media on hand embroidery on textile, 95 x 78 cm, 1988





(E-E) Evgenij Kozlov
Не ходиь / Don't go
Oil, marker, and ink on wood, 37 x 55.5 x 2.7 cm, 1988


Uploaded 25 March 2019
Last updated 15 May 2020