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Photograph of Vitaly Komar and Alexander Melamid with a meat grinder in black and white

"The Essence of Truth" (Grinding Pravda), 1975, gelatin silver print on paper and object made of compressed newspaper, 7 3/4 × 5 5/8 in. (19.7 × 14.3 cm). D20975.04

Dates

February 11- July 16, 2023

Location

Zimmerli Art Museum

71 Hamilton Street New Brunswick, NJ, 08901

Information

Admission at the Zimmerli is FREE to everyone. Tickets are not required for exhibitions

Komar and Melamid: A Lesson in History

The exhibition is a retrospective of two Russian-American artists Vitaly Komar and Alexander Melamid, critics of totalitarianism behind the Iron Curtain who worked together from 1972 to 2003.

Komar and Melamid emerged from the circle of Soviet nonconformist artists who rejected the Soviet government’s dictate that limited artists to the propaganda-based style of Socialist Realism. Komar and Melamid were among the founders of Sots Art, which employed a provocative and ironic manner to expose the absurdities of the official art—and of the regime as a whole. Much like American Pop Art’s reaction to the overproduction of consumer goods, Sots Art was a reaction to the overproduction of ideology that rendered Communist slogans and symbols nonsensical.

After immigrating to the United States in 1978, Komar and Melamid applied their well-honed artistic practices to production in the American art market and enriched its contemporary art scene. By addressing historical, social, and political issues, they shed light on topics that recently have become extraordinarily relevant again. These include the functioning of personal freedoms in a totalitarian state, social and environmental issues, and the expression of political differences through the language of art. Their work provides an important cross-cultural link in the current international climate.

The exhibition includes installations, paintings, prints, and artifacts from the museum’s renowned Norton and Nancy Dodge Collection of Nonconformist Art from the Soviet Union, augmented by loans from distinguished national and international institutions and archives (Tate Modern and Centre Pompidou among them) as well as major private collections, making it possible for visitors to experience works that are rarely exhibited for the public.

Organized by Julia Tulovsky, Ph.D., Curator of Russian and Soviet Nonconformist Art

A 288-page book with 250 color illustrations is copublished with Hirmer Publishing and distributed by the University of Chicago Press. The book may be purchased at the museum reception desk or ordered through the University of Chicago Press. 

Order the Book

Exhibition Preview

Komar and Melamid emerged from the circle of Soviet nonconformist artists who rejected the Soviet government’s dictate that limited artists to the propaganda-based style of Socialist Realism. Komar and Melamid were among the founders of Sots Art, which employed a provocative and ironic manner to expose the absurdities of the official art—and of the regime as a whole.

Olo from the Catalogue of Super Objects—Super Comfort for Super People series, 1976, color photographs and typewritten sheets, 8 7/8 × 10 13/16 in. (22.5 × 27.5 cm). 2001.1227.002

We Buy and Sell Souls advertisement posters for the project Komar and Melamid Inc., We Buy and Sell Souls, 1978-1983, Type-C print on paper, 26 × 17 11/16 in. (66 × 45 cm). Purchased with funds donated by Norton Dodge and Nancy Dodge. 2001.0153.001-012.

Forward to the Sun (Communism) from the Sots-Art series, 1972, oil and tempera on panel, 17 ½ x 25 3/16 in. (44.5 x 64 cm.). 2001.1222.
 

The Essence of Truth (Grinding Pravda), 1975, gelatin silver print on paper and object made of compressed newspaper, 7 3/4 × 5 5/8 in. (19.7 × 14.3 cm). D20975.04.

The Origins of Socialist Realism from the Nostalgic Socialist Realism series, 1982-1932, tempera and oil on canvas, 72 ×48 1/16 in. (183 x 182 cm). 2001.0415.