Pablo Picasso said: "Art is the lie that enables us to realise the truth."
When we escape to that world of imagination and mystery, and let our mind run free, we create something which reflects who we are our and our story. We create art. Behind what may often seem obscure, abstract or even indistinguishable, there's a message. There's a story about life and circumstances, and expressions of pure delight and deep struggle.
Timur Novikov, a non-conventional artist from Russia, along with his friends, were compelled to communicate their discontent with the rule of the Soviet Union and did so through their art.
Their message was heard. The truth was realised.
This story has been featured on Alternative London.
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| Sergei ‘Afrika’ Bugaev (left), Georgy Gurjanov (middle), Oleg Kolomiychuk (behind) and Timur Novikov (right) holding a book gifted by Andy Warhol at the ASSA gallery, 1986. |
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Fine art meets youth culture, alternative music,
pirate video, risqué fashion and daring performance.
This is the work of the New Artists - the
experimental, fluid and sexually expressive group of artists from St Petersburg
in Russia – who during the 1980s and 90s, rebelled against the Soviet
government through colour, shape and stroke.
Ideologically opposed to conformity and
structure, Timur Novikov (a Russian philosopher and art theorist) joined with
his friends to form the New Artists group and began to make art to express
their dissatisfaction with their country’s rule.
In Shoreditch at the Calvert Gallery 22, there is an exhibition currently showcasing the exclusive pieces
of Novikov and his eclectic group known as the Club of Friends,
curated by Ekaterina Andreeva.
Exhibition and Event Organiser Lily Hall said: “They were not formally
educated in art and had no access to materials. They instead used anything they
could get their hands on. Their mother’s shower curtain, stumps of charcoal,
old clothes, embroidered patches, ribbon, film, plastic. Anything.”
