The State Museum of Contemporary Art opened a major retrospective of the works of the famous masters of Russian Sots Art Leonid Sokov

National Museum of Modern Art, May 24 - July 1, 2012
Moscow Gogol Boulevard, 10

Retrospective of works of the famous masters of Russian Sots Art Leonid Sokov for the first time in Russia is the most complete work of the artist with 1970's until the present time. The exhibition consists of nine sections reflecting the main stages of the creation of the author, and includes over 120 works.

Sokova name is closely associated with the birth and development of social art style, which from 1970 - ies and to this day serves as a source of inspiration for many Russian artists. Strategies for non-art, united opposition to the aesthetic paradigms of academic and socialist realism, critical thinking as the expected semi-official doctrines and way of thinking ordinary Soviet citizen. Sots artists, partly solidarity with these settings, they have implemented to create parodies of cultural artifacts, which in its simplicity, deliberate coarseness, opened his eclectic aesthetic for a long time were not considered art, even among modernists. Sots-art aspired to be an alternative not only to socialist realism, but also classical modernism and its extensions in a free "underground" Russian art of the 1960s. Work Sokova demonstrate the characteristics and methods of this second avant-garde, which appeared almost simultaneously in various centers of contemporary culture around the world and was named "post-modernism».

As a typical post-modernist, Leonid Sokov crosses in his works not only derivatives of modern civilization - the everyday things, sacred symbols, signs of power, images of mass media, but also elements of the classical world of art, folklore motifs, artifacts of pagan cults.

visiting Card Sots Art became famous Sokovsky sculptural dialogue of characters. Juice brought face to face various images of Soviet and Western civilizations. Meeting in a single work of Marilyn Monroe with Stalin, "Walking Man" by Giacometti in the Lenin monument, folk toys with imperial emblem showed a geopolitical conflict of cultures of the twentieth century, the split consciousness and "doublethink" of modern man no matter what the political system he may belong.

Sacred things - the images of leaders, the heraldic symbols of the state of art masterpieces of the past - are presented juices under this perspective that the audience laughed involuntarily. Humorous perspective allows the viewer to see the world in an unexpected dimension and the time freed from subservience to the authorities of reactions and cults. Sokovsky elevates the art of playing the national nihilism, which is manifested in jokes, toys and splints, the status of national cultural tradition.

components of this exhibition of works Sokova brought from the public and private collections in USA, Europe and Russia including meetings, as The Freedman Gallery, The Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, Galleria Mazzoli, the State Tretyakov Gallery, the Cultural Foundation "Ekaterina", and others, as well as works from the artist's studio. Along with the sculptural works of Leonid Sokov, included in the exhibition, and a little-known Russian public art master.

curator - Andrei Erofeev.

The exhibition will be issued a catalog, widely representing the work of Leonid Sokov. Authors: art theorist Boris Groys, art Andrei Erofeev, Julia Tulovskii of the Zimmerli Art Museum, Gleb Napreenko, as well as the artist himself.

LEONID JUICE Inverted Mausoleum and the Kremlin. 1990 bronze, metal, paint. 39,4 × 22,9 × 14 Property of the author, New York, USA Photo (c) Adam Reich

LEONID JUICE Mickey and Marx. 2011 Bronze, patina. 48,3 × 29,2 × 12,7 Property of the author, New York, USA Photo (c) Adam Reich

LEONID JUICE Lenin Letatlin wings. Object. 2010 metal, patina copper. 104 × 50,8 × 20 Property of the author, New York, USA Photo (c) Adam Reich

LEONID JUICE Mickey Mouse with a hammer and sickle. 2010 wood, steel, metal and wood. 21 × 14 × 2 Property of the author, New York, USA Photo (c) Adam Reich

LEONID JUICE Wildcat . 2007 Wrought iron. 41,9 × 133,4 × 25,4 Photo (c) Adam Reich

LEONID JUICE Vitruvian bear. 2007 Wrought iron. 149,9 × 129,5 × 2,5 Collection Gyuntisa Brand, Zermatt, Switzerland Photo (c) Adam Reich

LEONID JUICE «Where was the aggression Russian avant-garde?". Object. 2002 porcelain, wrought iron. 20 × 22,5 × 11,5 Property of the author, New York, USA Photo (c) Adam Reich

LEONID JUICE Rt. 2001 Keramika, derevo, kraska, bronze, silver and platinum. 46 × 35,5 × 122 Property of the author, New York, USA Photo (c) Adam Reich

LEONID JUICE Russian ballet. 1998 oil on wood, cast iron. 22,9 × 62,2 × 38,1 Property of the author, New York, USA Photo (c) Adam Reich

LEONID JUICE born Russian avant-garde. 1996 Maslo, tin, rope. 22,9 × 30,5 × 12,7 Property of the author, New York, USA Photo (c) Adam Reich

LEONID JUICE Lenin and Calder. 1994 bronze, metal and acrylic. 45,7 × 80 × 15,2 Property of the author, New York, USA Photo (c) Adam Reich

LEONID JUICE Brezhnev. 1993 Oil on canvas. 170,2 × 180,3 Property of the author, New York, USA Photo (c) Adam Reich

LEONID JUICE Creator. 1993 Wrought iron and wax. 12,7 × 10,2 × 7,6 Property of the author, New York, USA Photo (c) Adam Reich

LEONID JUICE Stalin bear foot. 1990 Bronze, Silver, Gold (electroplating). 50 × 12,1 × 12,1 Property of the author, New York, USA Photo (c) Adam Reich

LEONID JUICE Dollar and Hammer. 1989 wood, stainless steel, 122 × 122 × 25,4 Property of the author, New York, USA Photo (c) Adam Reich

LEONID JUICE Russian-American toy. 1987 a) Bear with Donald Duck. Object. 1987 Plexiglas, wood, nails and string. 15,2 × 10,2 × 6,4 b) Bear with ET. Object. 1987 Plexiglas, wood and string. 14 × 12,7 × 9,5 c) Bear Bugs Bunny. Object. 1987 Plexiglas, wood, nails and string. 14 × 10,2 × 5,5 d) Bear Zelenoy evil spirits. Object. 1987 Plexiglas, wood, nails and string. 19,1 × 15,2 × 7 Property of the author, New York, USA Photo (c) Adam Reich

LEONID JUICE the Soviet Union. 1986 wood, paper, oil. 25,4 × 50,8 × 12,7 Property of the author, New York, USA Photo (c) Adam Reich

LEONID JUICE Ugh. 1978 oil on wood and steel. 50 × 17 × 21 Property of the author, New York, USA Photo (c) Adam Reich

LEONID JUICE Points for every Soviet citizen. 1974 oil on wood, and iron. 35,6 × 99,1 × 99,1 Property of the author, New York, USA