USA-CCCP. Points of Contact.
Catherine Mannick – (E-E) Evgenij Kozlov
Correspondence 1979 – 1990

It is usually considered that censorship was the main obstacle to free expression in the Soviet Union – and other communist states, for that matter - but in the case of Evgenij Kozlov’s oeuvre from the 1980s, it makes sense to distinguish between censorship in a stricter sense, concerning restrictions on style and subject matter, and censorship in a wider sense, concerning the fact that without a diploma of a higher art school, he was denied the status of a professional artist on formal grounds.

Censorship in the stricter sense didn’t apply to his artistic quest. At the beginning of 1982, he noted in his diary:

I have achieved a state of performance where I'm completely free and absolutely audacious.
Completely free with respect to creation, absolutely audacious with respect to forms. (Diary III, p. 3-16)

(E-E) Evgenij Kozlov, Diary III, pp 16, 17, beginning of 1982. Page 16, central paragraph: - Добился состояния работоспособности, при котором полностью свободен и абсолютно смел. / I have achieved a state of performance where I'm completely free and absolutely audacious. – Творчески П.С. [полностью свободен] / – Completely free with respect to creation, – А.С. в формах [абсолютно смел]/ – Absolutely audacious with respect to forms. more >> Page 17: see previous chapter, 3. Perestroika Emissaries Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies Special Collection • Harvard University Harvard Accession Number: KMFP_0301

By contrast, censorship in the wider sense considerably hindered his artistic expression. Being considered an “amateur” artist, the Law on Social Parasitism obliged him to enrol in official jobs, mostly as a graphic designer,[1] which had a serious impact on his creativity. In the same diary, a year later, he referred to those less than ideal conditions:

23/1/83. A month has passed since I started working at Nizino. I have my own workshop and a lot of work to do. My back gets tired from leaning over the table all the time. I‘m wasting my time and energy on lettering and on pasting clippings from posters to plywood. It’s the same routine every day, and in the end it all has to be thrown away or remade a year later, at most. It’s time spent for nothing, a style of art as propaganda.


Art has lost its pace, the number of paintings and graphic works has dropped so much that I’m constantly worrying about the future, feeling guilty about myself and in front of people. (Diary III, p. 3-75-76 more >>)

Paradoxically, his art, though often out of the ordinary, rarely came into conflict with censorship when shown publicly. Kozlov participated in public group exhibitions where the number of works by a single artist was never very large, and if Leningrad’s municipal censorship board, the Municipal Exhibition Committee (gorodskoi vystavkom),[2] did not admit a particular work, there was always another one to substitute it.[3]

This doesn't mean that Kozlov selected his works for public exhibitions at random. In his diary, there is an example from 1983, which comprises several possible lists for the second exhibition of The Society for Experimental Visual Art, or TEII, an association of independent artists founded in 1982. Catherine Mannick visited the opening and took pictures of the exhibits; digital images of the slides, together with her personal invitation card, are now at the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies Special Collection (see Slides 1980-1983 – Towards Spiritual Realism and Letter E, May 1983). The pictures show that the final selection included works from different years, among them three compositions from 1982 painted on pages from a chasoslov – a Horologion or book of hours – from the nineteenth century. At first glance, it seems surprising that these works should have passed censorship, but it can be explained. The following quote is from an article from 2021:

Contemporary works stimulated by an Orthodox liturgical book would hardly have been admitted by Leningrad's municipal exhibition committee – or to any other Soviet exhibition in 1983. But in those three works documented at the exhibition, the printed text is entirely covered by the compositions. In fact, the painted surface extents to the very borders of a sheet, thus covering the catchword, too. Yet it would be wrong to consider these full-page compositions to be a case of self-censorship. While Kozlov often left a catchword visible, especially when it gave a work its title, there are also quite a few ‘full page’ compositions. It is plausible that he selected from those if he wished to avoid a conflict with the exhibition committee. What is more, he presented the three folios mounted on paper and put inside a frame, which means that the printed text on the reverse was also covered. Besides, biblical connotations are not obvious in most compositions either, since Kozlov created non-canonical narrations.[4]

(E-E) Evgenij Kozlov Untitled or Свет /Light Лист V / Folio V from The Peterhof Book of Hours series, 1982 Coloured print, 13 x 9 cm, 1983 Leningrad, Palace of the Youth (Ленинградский дворец молодёжи, ЛДМ, Leningradskii dvorets molodezhi, LDM). Picture taken by Catherine Mannick on 5 April, 1983, during the opening of The Second TEII Exhibition see Slides 1980-1983 – Towards Spiritual Realism >> The Second TEII Exhibition >> Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies Special Collection, Harvard University Harvard Accession Number: KMFP_0047_C1		(E-E) Evgenij Kozlov Untitled or Свет /Light Лист V / Folio V from The Peterhof Book of Hours series, Scan image more >> and more >> Gouache, tempera, watercolour, aluminium powder on paper, 33.5 x 22.5 cm, 1982 E-E archival number: E-E-182016
(E-E) Evgenij Kozlov Untitled or Свет /Light Лист V / Folio V from The Peterhof Book of Hours series,reverse more >> Gouache, tempera, watercolour, aluminium powder on paper, 33.5 x 22.5 cm, 1982 E-E archival number: E-E-182016		(E-E) Evgenij Kozlov Untitled or Свет /Light Лист V / Folio V from The Peterhof Book of Hours series, Detail Gouache, tempera, watercolour, aluminium powder on paper, 33.5 x 22.5 cm, 1982 E-E archival number: E-E-182016

Two examples of censorship at public exhibitions, both from 1985, have been documented for E-E Kozlov's work. The first concerns his painted photo-collage polyptych “Good Evening Gustav” from 1984, which wasn’t admitted at the 6th TEII Exhibition in May 1985.[5] The 20-part zigzag-fold, mentioned in the previous chapter, pays homage to Georgy “Gustav” Guryanov. Stylistically, it belongs to Kozlov’s “New Wave” period described in the introduction to Letter G, September 1984.[6]

Collages by (E-E) Evgenij Kozlov displayed at the Erik Goroshevsky Theatre, a semi-private venue, in 1985 more >>. See footnote 6. Bottom: „ART E. Козлов /Е-Е/ N. 40 „ГУД ИВНИН ГУСТАВ“ ART E. Kozlov /E-E/ No. 40 ‘Good Evening Gustav’ Polyptych, 20 parts, each approx. 29.7 x 21 cm, photo collage, 1984 E-E archival number: E-E-184003 E-E archival number of the picture: E-E-pho-BD21

(E-E) Evgenij Kozlov Good Evening Gustav. Part 6 of 20, Ivetta Pomerantseva and Georgy Guryanov. 1984. E-E archival number: E-E-184003-06 The Timur Novikov Family Collection, Saint Petersburg		(E-E) Evgenij Kozlov Good Evening Gustav. Part 5 of 20, Ivetta Pomerantseva and Georgy Guryanov. 1984. E-E archival number: E-E-184003-05 The Timur Novikov Family Collection, Saint Petersburg
(E-E) Evgenij Kozlov Good Evening Gustav. Part 1 of 20, Georgy Guryanov and Ivetta Pomerantseva. 1984. E-E archival number: E-E-184003-01 The Timur Novikov Family Collection, Saint Petersburg		(E-E) Evgenij Kozlov Unitled Mixed media on paper, 64 x 44 cm, 2000 more >> The composition is an interpretation of pictures 5 and 6 from the “Good Evening Gustav” polyptych. E-E archival number: E-E-200079

The second example of censorship is from the “Happy New Year” exhibition at the Leningrad Rock Club in December 1985. The works that didn’t make it, a painting and several painted photos, are from Kozlov’s graffiti art period he called B(L)ack art (see 2. Let’s Talk About Art. New Wave, New Artists, and B(L)ack art). As in the case of the “Good Evening Gustav” zigzag-fold, they fulfil none of the “classical” conditions for censorship: religion, anti-Soviet propaganda or pornography.[7] In all likelihood, they didn’t meet the censors’ taste – “too ‘new wave’, too unusual”, as Kozlov wrote his friend (Letter I, spring 1986) – but the censors also disapproved of the English script on the painting.[8] 

(E-E) Evgenij Kozlov Title of painting unknown, possibly "Я-Я / Ya-Ya" (see bottom right). Letter I to Catherine Mannick, spring 1986, print (B) more >> Painted vintage print, 17 x 11 cm, 1986. E-E archival number (photo): E-E-pho-EP11-opc E-E archival number of painting: E-E-185008. Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies Special Collection, Harvard University Harvard Accession Number: KMFP_0023

There is also a regretful example of self-censorship – Kozlov’s painting CCCP-USA from 1986. Fearing a possible interpretation of a same-sex relationship between the two powers, the artist burnt it on the shore of the Gulf of Finland (see Letter K, August 1986).

(E-E) Evgenij Kozlov with his painting CCCP-USA / USSR-USA Oil on canvas, approx. 160 x 110 cm, 1986 Photo: C. Mannick, October 1986. Coloured print, 12.5 x 9 cm E-E-archival number (painting): E-E-186026 Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies Special Collection, Harvard University Harvard Accession Number: KMFP_0080 See Letter L, 1986 and 2. Let’s Talk About Art. New Wave, New Artists, and B(L)ack art).

It is clear that censorship didn’t vanish overnight: In May 1986, a TEII exhibit wasn’t opened officially because artists refused to take down a number of works. In this case, however, censorship did not apply to Kozlov’s work or works.[9]  But in the following years, Leningrad’s Municipal Exhibition Committee seems to have become more lenient, or perhaps simply lost control over the increasing number of public exhibitions. What can be said for sure is that there was no longer any censorship in April 1988, when the first exhibition that presented the New Artists with the group’s name was opened at Leningrad’s Sverdlov House of Culture more >>. Although only eight names appeared on the poster, the exhibition itself saw the works of at least sixteen artists, since, in Timur Novikov words, “The exhibition was organised in the following way: everybody brought along what they saw fit, and no one selected anything from anyone else.” (see Timur Novikov’s exhibition flyer)

(E-E) Evgenij Kozlov at his studio “The Russian Field”, Leningrad, with his painting “The Big Le-yenin”, oil on canvas, 3x2m, 1990 see Letter R, March 1990 Photo: Catherine Mannick, May 1990 Digitised slide image: Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies Special Collection, Harvard University

In 1990, Kozlov painted “The Big Le-yenin” – Lenin with red eyes, a typical case for censorship on ideological grounds – and presented it twice publicly, at the Mayak House of Culture (see Letter R, March 1990) and at the Union of Artists Exhibition Hall External link to Youtube. At this stage, censorship seems to have been abandoned altogether.

Hannelore Fobo, 14 April 2024

USA-CCCP. Points of Contact Catherine Mannick – (E-E) Evgenij Kozlov Correspondence 1979 – 1990

Part 1: Introduction

Synopsis • Chronology and Archival Numbers

Introduction • Sending Аrt and Оther Gifts

1. Introduction: From Leningrad to Boston and Back

2. Let’s Talk About Art. New Wave, New Artists, and B(L)ack art.

3. Perestroika Emissaries

4. The End of Censorship

5. “It Seems I Need a Manager.” The Impact of Getting Popular

6. Leningrad Artists and Musicians in E-E Kozlov's Pictures

7. Mail Art • E-E Style – Periodisation for the 1980s

— The River of Forgetfulness, 1988 —

Part 2: Letters

Letter A (1979) – Halloween

Letter B (1980) – To Be at Peace with Yourself

Letter C (1980 / 1981) – Mail Art

Pictures 1981 – Flat Exhibitions / Letopis ("Chronicle”)

Slides 1980-1983 – Towards Spiritual Realism

Letter D (1982) – The Sea and the Countryside

Letter E (1983) – Saigon

Letter F (1983) – Moscow

Letter G (1984) – New Wave

Letter H (1985) – New Composers

Letter I (1986) – Happy New Year at the Leningrad Rock Club

Letter J (1986) – CCCP-USA

Letter K (1986) – The Price of Art

Letter L (1986) – B (L)ack art • PoPs from the USSSR

Letter M (1986) – A Taste for Colours

Letter N (1987) – Part 1: Changes and Challenges

Letter N (1987) – Part 2: ASSA

Letter O (1988) – Joanna Stingray's Wedding

Letter P (1989) – Perestroika Hot News

Letter Q (1989) – Russkoee Polee • The Russian Field

Letter R (1990) – New Classicals

Epilogue: USA-CCCP. Points of Contact (Forthcoming)

see also
(E-E) Evgenij Kozlov, Catherine Mannick, and Hannelore Fobo papers, 1979-2022 (inclusive)
Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies Special Collection Harvard University >>

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Published 7 June 2024

Last updated 17 November 2024