The exhibition of posters showed a trend: they went from sharpness to picturesqueness

An exhibition of posters created by artists over the past ten years has opened in the Pink Hall of the Russian State Library. The plots and performance style speak volumes about the zeitgeist and the transformation of one of the most popular art forms. Pandemic, space, theater, book illustration – these are the topics that are in the focus of the authors, whose works will now be preserved forever in the stock of the country’s main library. “MK” looked at the posters of the recent past.

The Soviet era began with the Cultural Revolution, and perhaps the most important sign of socialist modernization was the transition from a figurative visual language to a symbolic one, which was most clearly manifested in the art of the poster. An accessible, concise, color-rich genre set off a chain reaction – original Soviet graphics inspire designers to this day. We now see the consequences of that revolution on the streets of the city, full of various posters of various contents and purposes.

The largest and best part of the poster art heritage of the past is kept in the RSL. According to Lyubov Rodionova, Head of Fine Arts Department, there are now more than 400,000 posters in the funds. Among them, for example, the work of Dmitry Moor, who headed the first professional association of artists in this direction in the USSR – the Society of Revolutionary Poster Workers (ORRP). Two years after its creation, the society became part of the Moscow Union of Artists.

Modern artists who are members of the trade union continue to replenish the funds of the RSL today – several dozen works are presented at the exhibition. Most of them are created not to order, but at the behest of the heart. However, there are several posters made for a specific occasion – for the premiere of the performance and as a poster for the exhibition.

“A poster is a laconic form in which some kind of deep thought is clearly expressed, and our task is to pass on to posterity samples of this art that are created today and reflect our time,” said the president of the library, Viktor Fedorov, at the opening. – Allow me a lyrical digression. In my youth, I lived in a small railway station town in the Pskov region. Just got married. One day I come to the hospital, and there is a poster where a man and a woman are schematically depicted in the form of triangles. Lightnings flicker between them, and at the bottom there is a signature: “Every quarrel is a blow to the nerves.” I liked it so much that every time a quarrel with my wife was brewing, I remembered this poster and tried to reduce the intensity of emotions.

This personal story well illustrates the poster principle, where a bright graphic design is usually combined with a “shocking” message to the viewer. In this sense, modern posters are inferior to Soviet ones. Here, for example, is the space section. “Beep-beep-beep…” we read above the image of a satellite flying against the backdrop of space, which is drawn in the style of a Rothko painting. The work of Mikhail Yermolov is closer to painting than to a laconic poster language. Vasily Chekashov depicted a space rocket painted in the spirit of Khokhloma and signed – “Kuzka’s mother”, thereby recalling the famous statement of Nikita Khrushchev. The statement is figurative, but not obvious, the viewer is invited to guess for himself.

The covid theme is also picturesque. On the poster of Leonid Pavlov we see a picturesque death, painted in broad strokes, in a red crown-molecule. Natalya Evladova illustrates the phrase “Stay at home” in the style of a comic book, where men are running from a scary toothy monster in a crown. Her other work on the same theme is made in the style of the Pac-Man computer game and signed: “The game isn’t over.”

Festive posters for the New Year, March 8 and May 1 also do not hurt with a sharp word, but are full of curious artistic solutions. There are games: March 8 is presented in the form of a playing card – eight of hearts. Or almost popular ones – as on the poster of Elena Vaganova, who draws a cheerful family feast with Santa Claus at the head.

Book and theater posters are deeper and more expressive, and they are also far from the avant-garde Soviet posters, like those made by Mayakovsky in the 1920s or created in ROSTA Windows. Here, for example, is Vasily Cherkashov’s illustration for Fyodor Dostoevsky’s short story “A Meek One”. Against a pink background, a female figure in a strict dress holds her own head in her hands. A thin pattern is superimposed on the robe, which can only be seen close up, in the form of schematically drawn heads of very different people. Beautiful and delicate work. Here is another expressive thing – with the inscription “Book”. It is made as if on darkened boards. At the bottom of the poster, there are two conditional faceless heads, as if carved from wood. In fact, all this is computer graphics.

And here is a poster for a specific exhibition dedicated to the 100th anniversary of Stanislav Lem: a black-and-white portrait of a science fiction writer, from whose head figurative towers grow.

One of the most original works in the exhibition was made by the artist Nikolai Vyatkin for the children’s performance-promenade “Konfetenburg”, which was once staged in the now defunct NCCA (National Center for Contemporary Art). Before us is a metropolis in a bizarre blue, which turns into a fabulous, dreamy city. One of the towers is crowned with a lovely rocking horse. Works made to order, in terms of aesthetics, do not differ from the author’s, created for oneself.

There is a clear trend: the posters of recent years have moved away from sharp statements and a laconic conditional sign system and have become more decorative, playful, eclectic, and picturesque.