Evgenij Kozlov on the Leningrad Eighties and the “New Artists”. page 5


Questions by Yelena Fedotova, art magazine “Artchronika” (Moscow), on the occasion of the exhibition
“Brushstroke. New Artists and Necrorealists 1982-1991” at the Russian Museum, St. Petersburg, February-May 2010


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In your opinion, what were the most interesting exhibitions and fashion shows in the gallery?
Which events in the life of New Artists would call key ones?


With the great number of exhibitions, performances, fashion shows, birthday parties and other meetings held in the 80s more >>, it is difficult to answer these questions. Today, I can remember the events I photographed. Besides those already mentioned, there were meetings of “Kino” with New Artists, a fashion show with Natalya “Dlinnaya” Turik, Yury Tsirkul, Timur Novikov, Katya Selitskaya, Gasya, Oleg Kotelnikov and me, where all dressed as they wished, and Natalya “Dlinnaya” put on the makeup. There was also a presentation of the only copy of the magazine “New Artists – New Fashion” (its cover is still in my collection) or a promotion event for my cover for an album by “Kino”…more >>


E. Kozlov, o.T., übermalte Fotografie, 14,7 х 22,1сm, 1984 Aus der Fotoserie der Werbeaktion für das Plattencover  „Natchalnik Kamtchatki“ der Gruppe «КINO». Evgenij Kozlov schuf das Cover auf Bitte von Viktor Tsoy. Еvgenij Коzlov, aus der Serie „Modenschau in der Galerie «АССА»,“ 1984  Тimur Novikov, Gasya, Yuri Tsirkul, Katya Selitskaya, Оleg Kotelnikov, Еvgenij Kozlov, Nataliya «die Lange» Turik. Еvgenij Kozlov, Titelblatt des Magazins «Neue Künstler - Neue Mode» Collage 45 х 35,5 сm, 1984


E. Kozlov, untitled, painted photograph
14.7 х 22.1 сm, 1984

From the photo series dedicated to the promotion event for the LP cover “Nachalnik Kamchatki“, a record by the group “КINO”. Evgenij Kozlov created the cover on request by Viktor Tsoy.
more >>
Model: Katya Selitskaya


Еvgenij Коzlov, from the series
“Fashion Show at “АССА” Gallery,” 1984

Тimur Novikov, Gasya, Yuri Tsirkul, Katya Selitskaya,
Оleg Kotelnikov, Еvgenij Kozlov,
Nataliya “Dlinnaya” Turik.


Еvgenij Kozlov, magazine cover of
“New Artists - New Fashion”
Collage 45 х 35,5 сm, 1984
click to enlarge picture >>


The fashion show and promotion event were interesting for me not only as actions of the New Artists, but also because of the role they played in my own art. In the same year of 1984, I made a photo collage in the form of a triptych. This triptych represents a cross-section through time that covers artistic and non-artistic events of my life. I used many photos from both actions in it. The triptych is also included in the catalogue “Brushstroke.”


Еvgenij Kozlov, triptych, photo collage, 1984. Collection of the State Russian Museum.

Еvgenij Kozlov, Triptychon, Fotocollage, 1984. Sammlung Staatliches Russisches Museum, linker Teil des Triptychons Еvgenij Kozlov, Triptychon, Fotocollage, 1984. Sammlung Staatliches Russisches Museum, mittlerer Teil des Triptychons Еvgenij Kozlov, Triptychon, Fotocollage, 1984. Sammlung Staatliches Russisches Museum, rechter Teil des Triptychons

left part of triptych

central part of triptych

right part of triptych
click to enlarge picture>> click to enlarge picture >> click to enlarge picture >>



When it comes to other meetings, my memory also relies upon the photos: meetings with Georgy Guryanov, Viktor Tsoy, Valery Alakhov, Igor Verichev, Oleg Kotelnikov, Ivan Sotnikov, Inal Savchenkov, encounters in clubs and on the streets.

But I can put the answer in a different way. The essential purpose of these meetings was to trigger a creative process, and such a process occurs not simply because different people meet. Actually, it occurs as a result of impulses provoked by something new, unexpected and unprecedented which continue to make their positive, interesting and necessary impact. In other words, it is all about a search for these new impulses. In this sense, it could be said that New Artists existed maybe not in all, but in many countries. There was a similar movement around Jean-Michel Basquiat and others in America. The difference lies in the fact that in America, unlike in Russia, this movement received financial support and reached a completely different level.

What do I mean by an “impulse”? I would like to comment upon it, taking “The Portrait of Timur Novikov with Bone Arms” as an example. more >>. If we follow the portrait’s development from the first impulse until its realization, its “biography” begins with my photos of “The Ballet of The Three Inseparable Ones” after Kharms – one of the performances of New Theatre (among them were also “Anna Karenina” and “The Idiot”). One of these photos became a starting point for the portrait because of Timur’s particular glance and the turn of his head. That was the impulse. This glance and this turn of the head already transcended, to some extent, the limitations of the personality. Then followed a painted photo and a graphic work. They are two independent works of art, but, from the point of view of “The Portrait of Timur Novikov with Bone Arms”, they show the steps that have led to the complete metamorphosis of the personality.more >>

After the ballet “Anna Karenina”, two large paintings were created in the same way: “Anna Karenina 1” with Novikov and Bugaev large picture >> and “Anna Karenina 2” with Gutsevich, Bugaev and Zavernyaev large picture >>. During the first large tour exhibition of the New Artists around Europe and the USA in 1988/89, these two works together with my portrait of Leo Tolstoy large picture >> were exhibited as a triptych. Although that was strange and wrong, as I did not view them as a triptych, the curators must have had their reasons.

"De Nya från Leningrad" (The New from Leningrad), Ausstellung im Kulturhuset, Stockholm, 1988. Linke Wand:  E. Kozlov „Anna Karenina 2“ „MIR (Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoi)“ "De Nya fran Leningrad" (The New from Leningrad), Ausstellung im Kulturhuset, Stockholm, 1988. Linke Wand: Bilder von Evgenij Kozlov rechte Wand:  Timur Novikov “Perestroika in the Avant Garde” Bluecoat Gallery, Liverpool, 21 January to 4 February , 1989 Evgenij Kozlov „MIR (Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoi)“  „Anna Karenina 2“  „Anna Karenina 1“

“De Nya från Leningrad” (The New from Leningrad), Ausstellung im Kulturhuset, Stockholm, 1988.
on the left wall: paintings by E. Kozlov
"Anna Karenina 2“
"MIR (Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoi)“
mоrе >>

“De Nya fran Leningrad” (The New from Leningrad), exhibition at the Kulturhuset, Stockholm, 1988.
on the left wall: paintings by E. Kozlov
on the right wall: works by Timur Novikov
mоrе >>

“Perestroika in the Avant Garde”
Bluecoat Gallery, Liverpool, January 21st to February 4th , 1989
Evgenij Kozlov
“MIR (Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoi)”
large picture >>
"Anna Karenina 2“
large picture >>
“Anna Karenina 1”
large picture >>

 

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