Topographies of Dissent: Armenian Art from the Dodge Collection

Topographies of Dissent presents a selection of works by Armenian artists from the Norton and Nancy Dodge Collection of Nonconformist Art from the Soviet Union, revealing the paradoxes of Armenian history in the Soviet era through the art of its time. Divided into five sections—National Landscape: Land, Identity, Dream; Tradition and Innovation: Edge of Formalism; Abstractionism; Pop Art, Hyperrealism and Neo-Dada of the 3rd Floor group; and Anti-utopias of Evil Empires, the exhibition reflects the unprecedentedly liberal culture which blurred the boundaries of “official” and “unofficial” art. 

Contrary to its Soviet counterparts, the Armenian art of the Soviet era developed underground organically, building upon the work of the pre-Soviet Armenian artists who synthesized national traditions and independent thinking with the global avant-garde. The Armenian nonconformists were perceived as being aligned with national modernism, until toward the end of the Soviet era, the 3rd Floor movement broke from the restrictions of national and artistic canons.