Light nostalgia – MK
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The project was conceived for the centenary of the founding of the Soviet Union
A landmark exhibition, “100+1. Dedicated to our Motherland!” The exhibition includes more than a hundred works of art created during the Soviet era. The project was conceived for the 100th anniversary of the founding of the USSR, but was implemented only now – a year after the round date. The delay was even beneficial: when the formal events died down, what was done from the heart looks much better. The curator of the exhibition, collector, member of the Union of Artists of the Russian Federation, Elena Zenina, wanted to show works outside of the political context, imbued with a touching faith in a bright future, a sense of the value and importance of the present moment for its implementation. That impulse of sincerity that was in Soviet art.
At the entrance to the arts center, the public is greeted by a showcase with unique ceramics. The exhibition of Soviet art includes not only paintings, but also posters, porcelain, bronze sculpture, and objects of decorative and applied art. An installation with a Soviet interior took center stage. In the center there is a table on which there is a rare radio receiver, a green lamp, several front-line photographs of Elena Zenina’s father and pennant flags.
“The pennants are from the Ryazan Long-Range Aviation Museum, with which we have been friends for many years,” says the gallery owner. “Our relationship developed by chance and somehow very touching. One day, the commander of long-range aviation, Hero of Russia Sergei Ivanovich Kobylash, was walking along Arbat and saw a memorial plaque dedicated to my father, attack pilot Alexander Ivanovich Zenin. Then he found my gallery and we met. Sergei Ivanovich also began his service as an attack pilot. This is what made us friends. The Long Range Aviation Museum provided banners for our exhibition, which we used to create the atmosphere.
In addition to items from the Ryazan Long-Range Aviation Museum, the exhibition includes exhibits from the Museum of Cosmonautics in Moscow, the Museum of Military Units of the Soletsky Garrison and private collections. However, despite the flags, banners and posters, the exhibition was created independently of the political context and historical assessments. It was important for the curator to show the power of Soviet art.
“This is an exhibition of nostalgia and an exhibition of hope,” says Elena. “When I was young, people lived, worked, loved, met more often, and believed in a bright future. You can feel from the art that this faith and sense of light were especially strong in the post-war years. Look how many free works there are, for example, in the impressionist style. And there are also unexpected things, like, for example, Sergei Pichugin.
Pichugin’s bathers are relaxed and cheerful, like most of the heroes of his paintings. Before us are beautiful people who enjoy rest and work, in whom there is a ray of light. Some works are very personal. For example, a painting by Arkady Plastov depicting two boys sitting under a tree. One of them is the artist’s son, Alexander. It was possible to identify him thanks to his grandson Nikolai, who recognized the father in the child, and at the same time clarified the dating of the work: they thought that it was written in the 1950s, but it turned out that in the 1930s.
The exhibition includes many works by recognized masters of the Soviet era: Alexander Deineka, Yuri Pimenov, Arkady Plastov, Nikolai Gorlov, and many works by excellent artists that remained undiscovered. Like the same Sergei Pichugin. Each has its own destiny, but together the works of these authors reflect the spirit of the times. The editor-in-chief of MK spoke about this at the opening.
“This is not just the spirit of the times and history, but the spirit of the country that should not be forgotten,” said Pavel Gusev. — The Soviet Union left an incredible legacy. In the mid-1990s, at the height of privatization, I was offered to change the name “Moskovsky Komsomolets”, and I said: “Okay, let’s call it “New Generation”, but we must understand that then a hundred people will read the newspaper, and not a million, as Now”. History must be preserved and appreciated. This exhibition is good because it is outside the political context and tells the history of the USSR through faces, eyes and colors.
Newspaper headline:
Light nostalgia
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