Back in the USSR

Tanks, flags, military parades, and perfectly oiled sports events. That, in a nutshell, is the clichéd image often depicted in Russian art. They are also, of course, themes treated in “Russian Turbulence”, the exhibition currently running at Charles Riva Collection, but the exhibit has much more to offer besides. “Russian Turbulence” does not have the pretention of presenting an exhaustive survey of Russian art from 1930 to the present. And yet, the exhibition is relatively successful in bringing together a representative sample of art from that region. For example, you can discover a very beautiful ensemble of modernist photos and collages. There are fine photographs of military parades and sports events by Alexander Rodchenko. The photos by Boris Ignatovich and Georgi

Lipskerov are also worth a look and bear witness to a refined sense of composition. Yevgeny Khaldei’s work, a combination of black and white photos and geometric elements that refer to Malevich, are a revelation. The majority of the works, however, are more recent, dating from the period after the perestroika. Thanks to increased freedom,
artists were able to appropriate the language of USSR ideology in an ironic way, though that did also – secretly – happen during the regime. For example, there are the photo by Sergei Borisov in which a nude model wrapped in a Russian flag poses in front of a typical communist-era skyscraper, the pompous flag proclaiming “God Bless America” by the duo Komar and Melamid, and the socio-critical acrylic paintings by Alexander Kosolapov. The latter combines agitprop with Western pop art by turning a Cola bottle into a burning molotov cocktail. The four watercolours on paper by Pavel Pepperstein are also very impressive. They depict the destruction of atom bombs in an aesthetic way. “Russian Turbulence” is a fine exhibition that brings together great names from the canon as well as lesser-known artists. There are a great many surprises in store for its visitors.

Russian Turbulence
> 3/3, do/je/Th > za/sa/Sa 13 > 18.30, gratis/gratuit/free,
CHARLES RIVA COLLECTION, Eendrachtsstraat 21 rue de la Concorde, Brussel/Bruxelles,
02-503.04.98, www.charlesrivacollection.com