News

Northwestern is Back in the U.S.S.R. with Fall Art Exhibitions

by Burke Patten, Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art

9/20/2011

The chill in the air on campus this fall may be more than the weather, as Northwestern University returns to the Cold War-era with five exhibitions of 20th-century art from Russia and the Soviet Union at the Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, 40 Arts Circle Drive, and the University Library, 1970 Campus Drive.

Block Museum Exhibitions

Gustav Klutsis, “The USSR is the Stakhanovite brigade of the world’s proletariat,” 1931, lithograph. Courtesy private collection. From Views and Re-Views.

“Views and Re-Views: Soviet Political Posters and Cartoons,” organized by the David Winton Bell Gallery, Brown University, provides a post-U.S.S.R assessment of Soviet graphic arts with more than 160 objects from a private collection. On display September 20 through December 4 in the Main Gallery, the exhibition reconsiders the artistic merits and stylistic diversity of work created as state propaganda through posters, cartoons, postcards, and photomontages spanning six decades.

“Tango with Cows: Book Art of the Russian Avant-Garde, 1910–1917,” in the Alsdorf Gallery from September 23 to December 11, chronicles the dramatic transformation of book art during the tumultuous years before the Russian Revolution, as visual artists and writers collaborated on hand-lithographed publications that combined primitive and abstract imagery with absurd poetry to convey intense ambivalence about their country’s past, present, and future. The exhibition is organized by the Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles.

University Library Exhibitions

“They Were Fighting for Our Freedom: American and Soviet Propaganda Posters of World War II,” a collaboration between the Library and the Peter the Great Museum/Kunstkamera, St. Petersburg, Russia, examines the portrayal of similar war themes—courage, strength in numbers, the home front, heroic military traditions, and the vile foe—in the different artistic languages of the two countries. It is on view September 20 to March 19, 2012.

	(Left to right) University of Arizona professor Alex Dunkel, Dimitri Shostakovich, and Northwestern University professor Irwin Weil at Northwestern in June 1973.

In June of 1973, Northwestern bestowed an honorary degree upon famed Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich. Organized by the Northwestern Music Library and University Archives, the exhibition “Dmitri Shostakovich at Northwestern,” running September 20 to March 19, recalls Shostakovich’s visit to campus through original documents and materials, including rare Shostakovich scores published in the Soviet Union.

Drawn from the Charles Deering McCormick Library of Special Collections, “Papering Over Tough Times: Soviet Propaganda Posters of the 1930s” demonstrates attempts by the Soviet government to inspire, placate, inform, and frighten its citizens during an era of massive social engineering. The exhibition can be seen from November 2 to June 15.

Related Programs

The following programs take place at the Block Museum and, unless noted, are free of charge.

“Battleship Potemkin,” Friday, September 23, 7 p.m. Block Cinema opens its fall season with a newly restored 35mm print of Sergei Eisenstein’s masterpiece. Admission is $4 with Block membership, Northwestern Wildcard, or student ID, and for seniors 65 & older; general admission is $6.

Block Museum docents lead free tours of “Views and Re-Views” and “Tango with Cows” at 1 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays, October 1–December 4.

Velimir Khlebnikov, poetry, Natalia Goncharova, art, and Alexei Kruchenykh, poetry, A Game in Hell Poem, 1912, lithograph. The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, California (88-B25686). From Tango with Cows.

“The Soviet Arts Experience on Campus,” Tuesday, September 27 and Thursday, September 29, Noon. Take a guided tour of the Soviet art exhibitions at the Block and the Library. Tours begin at the Library and end with a coffee reception at the Block.

“The Nature and Politics of Form in Soviet Posters, 1930–1965,” Thursday, October 13, 5:30 p.m. Christina Kiaer, associate professor of art history at Northwestern University, and Robert Bird, associate professor of Slavic languages and literatures at the University of Chicago, will reflect on form and meaning in Soviet graphic arts in individual presentations and in dialogue. A reception follows the program, which is cosponsored by the Northwestern Department of Art History.

“Family Day: Tango with Sound,” Sunday, October 16, 1 to 3 p.m. Tap into your inner avant-garde artist as we perform experimental poetry and create sound guided imagery in handmade books. Recommended for families with children ages 6 to 12. Free for Block members; $5 per family for nonmembers. Advance registration required. E-mail blockeducation@northwestern.edu.

“‘Beyonsense’—An Evening of Sound Poetry,” Wednesday, November 2, 6 p.m. Explore connections between early 20th-century avant-garde Russian poetry and contemporary experimental poetry with performances by poet Christian Bök, associate professor of English at University of Calgary. This event is cosponsored by the Northwestern Departments of English and Slavic Languages and Literatures, and Bök will be joined by associate professors Ilya Kutik and Nina Gourianova, of that department.

“‘Tango with Cows’ Gallery Talk,” Wednesday, November 9, 6 p.m. Decode the poetry and imagery of “Tango with Cows” with Professor Nina Gourianova and Northwestern students, who will recite selected poems from the exhibition.

Admission to the exhibitions is free. For more information on the Block, visit www.blockmuseum.northwestern.edu or call (847) 491-4000. For more information on the Library, visit www.library.northwestern.edu or call (847) 491-7658.

These exhibitions and programs are part of The Soviet Arts Experience, a 16-month-long, Chicago-wide showcase of works by artists who created under (and in response to) the Politburo of the Soviet Union. Visit www.SovietArtsExperience.org for a full schedule of events.    ♦