Why Sots art was almost com-art, who is an artist as Mosquitoes and Komar and Melamid became an international brand

When in may 1990 collector Alexander Kronik went to Israel, he decided to pick up a few favorite works, including "Smoking room" Vitaly Komar. And orders were extremely izuitskie, it was still the USSR. In those days, for the export of works of living artists, it was necessary to get his consent attested in his presence in the city Committee of graphic artists on Malaya Gruzinskaya street. And since this consent had to go to the Ministry of culture to obtain an export permit and learn the amount of the fee. How to lead in the city of artist who are already 12 years in new-Йорке? No way. Insanity, but formal picture of Vitaly Komar was banned from leaving the country. Then Kronik and up, away from sin, to ascribe to the author's name, two letters — happened "Mosquitoes". Then you can imagine the dialogue in Minculete@

@ & mdash; What do you have for an artist like this, Mosquitoes?

— Yes was what-то little-known Mosquito. Just liked the plot — "Smoking room": Smoking lublu@

— Well, then ladno@

In the end, permission was given, even duty on this obscure officials "Amateur" is not accrued. And flew into Israel (though she has already returned to Moscow). After many years Kronik told this story himself to Vitaly Komar, having met him at an exhibition at Saatchi. He laughed, the trick with "Komarov" he liked it. At the same time told that "Smoking room" was not written in 1972-м, as stated in the book "the circle", and in 1966-м. And participated in 1967 in their first joint Melamid exhibition "retrospective review" in the cafe "Blue bird".

So how did that with a picture of a graduate of the Stroganov school of the Mosquito in "Sheremetyevo-2" could not start? It's a long story. And it began in the morgue, more precisely, in the dead house of the Institute of physical culture, where ruthlessly drove the students of the art school — future artists — to focus them on issues of anatomy. It was there in the early 1960-х met Vitaly Komar and Alexander Melamid. They soon began working together. In 1967 the Duo mosquito — Melamid exhibition was held in the cafe "Blue bird". And in 1972 there was an event that cemented the creative Duo in the history of art. About this time invented the term "social-арт" the design philosophy of the new art napravleniya@

Now hard to believe, but social-арт (or, as now, they write, Sots art) could be called quite-другому. Vitaly Komar tells this story: "We discussed how to call it. Owls-арт — Soviet art or com-арт – Communist art. Alex immediately said, “KOMART — it's too similar to your last name”. In General, we stopped SOC-арте".

explanation of the depth of the philosophy of social-арта also better to hear that from a Mosquito: "In our case, the irony was the weapon of iconoclasm, but not with icons in the conventional sense of the English word, but rather as idalberto. And these idols were not outside but inside us because each of us have been taught false and in what-то very comfortable and pleasant picture of the world. So I don't quite understand when people say that it was a mockery of anyone-то and than-то. It was primarily the irony over himself, over the remnants of this cult. Because the history of the Soviet Union — this is my personal story and every one of those who want to honestly, openly and critically think about it. We were all responsible for what happened, were part of a tragicomic nightmare, the big lie. A picture of yourself and Komar Melamid in the form of Lenin and Stalin — is primarily a self-cleaning".

In 1974, Vitaly Komar and Alexander Melamid were among the main participants dispersed "Bulldozer exhibition". "Yes, many of the paintings were warped, but I didn't resist. I saw how they beat those who resisted, — recalled later in an interview with Komar. — pushed Me into the dirt, and the man stepped on the double-portrait in the form of Lenin and Stalin, and wanted to break. And I from the dirt looked, our eyes met. I said, “It's a masterpiece, are you?” And now, apparently, he remembered that-то from my school years. He is not broke, but fulfilled the order: the exhibition was not allowed, he threw a dump truck, a dump body. I've already spent out of the mud through the eyes of this truck. He left where-то in history. While doing excavations on the Moscow garbage 1974 — it is useless".

Consequences "Bulldozer exhibition" has become the exception to the artists ' Union and the drastic reduction of exhibition opportunities. The hands of the artists, however, is not folded: participated in the appartment, continued to "misbehave" at your pleasure. In 1977, for example, year arranged for the famous performance "Eat-art" — many know him from photos where artists scroll through a meat grinder of the Soviet press. But it is felt that in the USSR they all got a life and im not dudut@

At the end of 1977 Vitaly Komar moved to Israel, where after a year he moved to America@

In America, the Duo developed a rigorous activity, quickly mastered the laws of show-бизнеса: plucking the bourgeois audience, launched the campaign on buying a shower, had worked with Andy Warhol, was involved in a high-profile gallery exhibitions. Interest in independent art from the Soviet Union at that time was quite high. And understandable to Western audiences SOC-арт at the brand firmly associated with Komar and Melamid. In 2004, the Duo broke up, the artists went their separate ways. Each were then new solo-проекты, but not for glory but for pleasure. Overall rather we can say that the time has come to reap the fruits of a well-deserved 30 years ago izvestnosti@

among these fruits can be called and market success, which peaked't for 2007-2008, as for "Russian art for the Russians", and in our days. Record prices were achieved in 2010-2013 — was $460 thousand and $884 thousand Which once again confirms that the Duo Komar — Melamid recognized as an international brand, which is not affected by local national crises demand. The absolute record was recorded in 2010. In 2010 at the then London Phillips de Pury was sold almost two-meter height, the picture of the Duo "the Meeting between Solzhenitsyn and böll at Rostropovich's dacha" from the series "Social-арт" 1972. The buyer paid in terms of dollars, more than one million. With this result the Duo Komar and Melamid came in the top five most expensive shestidesyatnikov@

KOMAR and MELAMID Meeting between Solzhenitsyn and böll at Rostropovich's dacha. From the series "Social-арт". 1972 Canvas; oil, gold leaf and collage. 175 × 120 Phillips de Pury, London. 23.04.2010. Lot 29 Price: $1 012,2 this@

here And now work Vitaly Anatolievich Mosquito was first put up for auction ARTinvestment.RU. The painting "Raskolnikov kills the old woman" from the late 1960-х (in my opinion, the style is 1966-1967). And let's not be frightened by the name — semi-schematic imagery heavily veiled famous scene from Dostoevskogo@

VITALY KOMAR Raskolnikov kills the old woman. The late 1960-х (?) Canvas pasted on plywood, oil. The 42.6 × 36 Auction AI. 05.06.2015

What to see dopolnitelno@

komarandmelamid.org — official website of Komar and Melamid. In the chronology after 2005 are published only Vitaly Komara@

Vladimir Bogdanov, AI

Sources: guelman.ru, runyweb.com, russian-bazaar.com, artinvestment.ru