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Description
Lauren Cox, Graphic Design
Faculty Mentor: Professor Yola Monakhov Stockton, Art & Design
This research project is a study of contemporary Russian art and its relation to the social and political climate in which it exists. Art in Russia before and after Soviet times was largely created either for or against the government. The avant-garde artists and performers of the early twentieth century sought to make work that was experimental and non-conformist, while many Constructivist artists made work in support of the post-revolutionary government. Starting in the 1930s, Socialist Realism put tight restrictions on artists and only work glorifying the state was allowed. The past century of Russian history has created a culture that draws from the lavishness of the Tsars, the revolutionary spirit of the Bolsheviks, the oppressive nature of Stalinism, the fall of the Soviet Union, and the rapid catch-up to the rest of the twentieth-century developed world. The goal of this research was to answer the question of how the political and social climate in post-Soviet Russia influences the content and form of work being produced, and to analyze how artists are responding to themes such as nationalism and human rights. Research was collected through interviewing contemporary artists in St. Petersburg who are creating work that is directly related to their social and political surroundings.
Publication Date
2020
Disciplines
Arts and Humanities
Recommended Citation
Cox, Lauren, "Art of the New Russia: Contemporary Art in St. Petersburg" (2020). Arts. 22nd Annual Student Research and Creativity Conference. SUNY Buffalo State.
https://digitalcommons.buffalostate.edu/srcc-sp20-arts/9
