"Leonid Sokov. Unforgettable meetings" in the Tretyakov gallery
ARTinvestment.RU   12 октября 2016

Tomorrow at the state Tretyakov gallery in Krymsky Val opens a special project of Leonid Petrovich Sokov (1941), in which 94 of his works will be shown alongside works from the permanent exhibition of the state Tretyakov gallery

the State Tretyakov gallery
13 October 2016 — on January 29 2017
Moscow, Krimsky Val, 10
halls 2, 6, 12, 24, 26, 27, 28, 35

The exposition of the Tretyakov gallery — from the halls of the early avant-garde to socialist realism 1940-50-х years — will be introduced to sculpture, objects, installations and paintings of one of the main representatives of the Sots-арт, and Leonid Sokov. This brings into the gallery space of the irony of postmodernism, — suggested by the curators of the project F. Balakhovskaya and N. Sidorova, in cooperation with N. Alexandrova, L. Martz, I. Pronina.

This exhibition holds Juices of a kind tour of the gallery's collection, indicates that close to him artists identifies the key for it works, directions, and periods. This is both a result of reflection of the artist's creative searches of Russian art in the twentieth century and self-reflection in an attempt to understand the origins, the peculiarities and regularities of its own plastic experience.

THG is not the first time resorted to such an experimental form of display. In 2015 in the halls of post-war art held an exhibition of conceptual I. Makarevich and E. Elagina. These projects enliven the usual exposure, make it relevant, making-новому to look at the hanging. In addition, these exhibitions raise questions about museumification of contemporary art.

Leonid Sokov in the years of study at the Moscow art school and Moscow higher art-промышленном school (former Stroganov) a lot of drawing in the Moscow zoo, honing the ability to understand and summarize characteristics of a living nature, to discard the excess to achieve greater expressiveness. A great influence on him, as on many Soviet sculptors, had school Alexander Matveev. After graduating from College, and Juices became a member of Moscow Union of artists, and later a member of Bureau section of sculpture. But he was too closely within the boundaries established for a Soviet artist. Budding animal quickly evolved under the influence of modern Western sculpture, participated in the informal exhibitions. A distinctive feature of his works was an ironic game of allegories, quotations, characters. In 1979 the sculptor left the USSR.

In the state Tretyakov gallery collection now includes about 30 works by Sokov. In 1993, the gallery received a gift from the author of the work "Stalin with bear's foot" (1993), and in 1996 the Ministry of culture gave the Tretyakov gallery work Sokov "Toucan" and "Serval" (both 1971). In the early 2000-х received "a Portrait of bureaucracy" (1984) and "Glasses (Glasses for every Soviet person)" (2000, copies of this work, 1976). Finally, in 2014, in the gift of the TG passed a collection of Soviet unofficial art Leonid Talochkin, including works by Leonid Sokov.

in Addition to works from the collection of the state Tretyakov gallery and those provided by the author in the composition of the special project included works from the collections of Ekaterina and Vladimir Semenikhin (the Fund "Catherine"), Dmitry Volkov, Shalva Breus, Vladimir Antonichuk, Simone and Vyacheslav Sohransky.

According to Leonid Sokov, special "experience" does not claim to be an active "invasion" or "intervention" of his works in the exhibition galleries. Rather it is an attempt of the sculptor to "blend" with those who had influenced him, whom he loves. It is the leaders of the Russian avant-garde — Mikhail Larionov, Vladimir Tatlin, Kazimir Malevich, and his master teachers — Alexander Matveev. Specifically for the project the curators pulled from the vaults of the Museum and complemented the permanent exhibition of rarely exhibited works by Vasily Vatagin, Alexandr Matveev, Dmitry Tsaplin — particularly important for Sokov sculptors.

Juices shows how to dialogue with their favorite artists, in imitation or opposition to them were born from his works of animals and female Nudes 1960-х to ironic art-объектов and installations 1990-х – 2010-х. For example, in a room with large-scale works of socialist realism (painting by Vasily Efanova "Unforgettable meeting", a painting by Alexander Gerasimov's "Stalin and Voroshilov in the Kremlin", etc.) is presented a work Sokov "Meeting of two sculptures. Lenin and Giacometti" (1994) — is one of the landmark works of Sots-арта. Here are the installation Stalin "acts" in front of modernist sculpture — miniature replicas of the most famous works of Western masters of the twentieth century. Comparing the diametrically opposed semantic and plastic system, the Juice spends an ironic and absurdist deconstruction of the familiar signs, symbols, clichés.

In the courtyard of the Tretyakov gallery on the Crimean Shaft in the framework of the special project hosts one of the most paradoxical of objects Sokov — truck Suprematist Malevich's coffin on the body and a Black square on the hood, reproduced in natural size. Made of wood, the truck is a lot like a child's toy in the tradition of Russian carved crafts. In this combination of avant-garde and folk traditions, archaic, primitive is a very important feature of the author's vision Sokov.

In the attempt to understand people's character and the humor Juices drawn to the Russian avant-garde artists also draw energy and plastic ideas at the "grass-roots" and fair cultural traditions. The objects of juices in the framework of a special project installed in the halls of Mikhail Larionov, one of the main innovators of the domestic art scene of the last century. The image of the collapse of utopian ideas and plans of the first Russian avant-garde passed sokovsky ironic objects-гибриды: tank tower attached to the Suprematist teapot of Malevich, the crow in "Leftline", stool, hoisted above].

the Emblem of the project was "Vitruvian bear": Juices put this the most important for their work character and the symbol to the ideal of the human figure in the famous picture of Leonardo da Vinci.

Specially for the exhibition produced in limited series Souvenirs: the mobiles with the bears, made in the tradition of folk toys.

Source: press-релиз GTG