Synopsis and TEII article (2007)

The Society for Experimental Visual Art (TEII, 1981-1991) was an association of independent Leningrad artists founded before perestroika and tolerated by the Soviet authorities. It had its second large exhibition in April 1983, which was also (E-E) Evgenj Kozlov's first important participation in a public exhibition. Kozlov's diaries and visual material from the artist's own as well as from other archives provide the researcher with a rare opportunity to follow a complex process of his decision taking – of selecting or rejecting, through various stages, the paintings and works on paper to be exhibited. Exhibition views of six works document the diversity of Kozlov's artistic approaches with examples from 1981 (the ‘Russian’ period), 1982 (The Peterhof Book of Hours) and 1983 (semi-realistic painting). Driven by a desire to find a ‘language of the future’, Kozlov's permanent stylistic evolution distinguishes his art from that of his fellow artists.

(E-E) Evgenij Kozlov exhibition poster for the Second TEII Exhibition at Notes from the Underground Art and Alternative Music in Eastern Europe 1968–1994 Muzeum Sztuki, Lodz, 2016 more >> see next page, Introduction

More information about the exhibition and participating artists:

От Ленинграда к Санкт-Петербургу
ТЕИИ – Товариществo экспериментального изобразительного искусства –
«Неофициальное» искусство 1981 – 1991 годов / Сост. С. Ковальский, Е. Орлов, Ю. Рыбаков.
Музей нонконформистского искусства, Санкт-Петербург, 2007, стр. 112 - 115

From Leningrad to Saint-Petersburg. TEII – The Society for Experimental Visual Art. ‘Non-Official’ Art 1981-1991 /
Edited by S. Kovalsky, E. Orlov, Yu. Rybakov. The Museum of Nonconformist Art, Saint-Petersburg, 2007, pp 112 - 115

Website of the Museum of Nonconformist Art: https://nonmuseum.ru/en/

In the present article, quotes from the book are referred to as Kovalsky et al., TEII, p. xx

Research / text / layout: Hannelore Fobo, June / July 2021