The Russian artists Vitaly Komar and Alexander Melamid (aka ‘Komar and Melamid’) began their art careers generating state-sanctioned Socialist Realism – that is to say, the kind of reverent, red-tinted imagery that comes to mind when you picture Soviet propaganda posters. Soon, however, they found themselves enmeshed in a subversive underground art movement, creating ironic, subversive and often tragicomic imagery that resulted in one of their exhibitions being literally bulldozed by their totalitarian government. Created on the occasion of a retrospective of their work at the Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers University in New Jersey in 2023, this short film tells the story of how the duo rose to prominence in the early 1970s before ultimately falling out over artistic and philosophical differences. In doing so, the US-based director Sam Vladimirsky explores how two rather self-serious institutions – the Soviet government and the US art world – responded to their provocations, and the irrepressible nature of creativity and expression.
Director: Sam Vladimirsky
Websites: State of the Arts, Whimsy
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Wellbeing
Born in China, Zee seeks a gender-affirming life in the American Midwest
11 minutes
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Rituals and celebrations
A whale hunt is an act of prayer for an Inuit community north of the Arctic Circle
8 minutes
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Music
The peculiar beauty of a song caught between composition and improvisation
3 minutes
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Rituals and celebrations
A beginner’s guide to a joyful Persian tradition of spring renewal and rebirth
3 minutes
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Politics and government
How it looked to Afghan women to see the Taliban return to power
33 minutes
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Love and friendship
Love looks a bit different for a chain-smoking couple in a small apartment
11 minutes
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Metaphysics
Simple entities in universal harmony – Leibniz’s evocative perspective on reality
4 minutes
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Biography and memoir
Passed over as the first Black astronaut, Ed Dwight carved out an impressive second act
13 minutes
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The ancient world
The six priestesses who kept the flame of ancient Rome alight at risk of death
5 minutes