KU News Release

Exhibitions at Spencer Museum of Art explore social change in Russia

LAWRENCE — Artist Alexander Rodchenko called the lens of the camera “the pupil of the eye of the cultured man in socialist society.” Now visitors to the Spencer Museum of Art at the University of Kansas can see for themselves what Rodchenko meant.

The museum’s photography intern, Ellen Raimond, has organized “Reframing Society: Russian Constructivist Photography,” a selection of 40 photographs that represent this brief but important time in recent world history.

The exhibition is drawn exclusively from the museum’s collection and complements to the national traveling exhibition “El Lissitzky: Futurist Portfolios.” Both exhibitions will be on view through May 18 at the museum.

In the aftermath of the October Revolution of 1917, avant-garde artists embodying the ideals of the Socialist Revolution shifted their focus from nonobjective formalist experimentation to more practical pursuits. These Konstructivitsky (Constructivists) assumed a new socially conscious role: as operators armed with the mission of reinventing Russian society. During this period of marked political turmoil, the fledgling republic was defending itself against counterrevolutionary attacks and foreign intervention, while simultaneously instituting measures directed towards revitalizing its shattered economy.

During the 1920s, artists such Rodchenko, who viewed the more documentary approach of traditionalist photographers as being ineffective, began exploiting the viewpoint of the camera and its lens in a more extreme and abstract way, to better transform and revolutionize the ordinary. His use of extreme close-ups, dynamic viewpoints exploiting unusual angles and selective cropping influenced Boris Ignatovich, Georgy Zelma and others. Beyond these stylistic traits, the formally complex imagery that was incorporated into photomontage and collage effectively combined the seeming objectivity of the camera’s lens with the subjective intellect of the photographer. This unification held the viewer ultimately responsible for determining the true subject of the Constructivist portrayal, not the immediate subject — still recognizable in its fragmented and distorted form — but the “new Soviet reality.”

In 1934, the Communist Party issued a decree disbanding all independent artistic groups and promoting the rise of Social Realism in literature and the visual arts. This exhibition of photographs seeks to explore how the Constructivist movement — armed with the mission of reinventing Russian society — successfully created images strongly rooted in design while capturing the distinctive characteristics of Soviet life. Today, the Constructivists run the risk of being dismissed as naïve and optimistic, though some say they should be applauded for using imagery to advocate their utopian ideals, with the hope of inspiring their fellow countrymen to commit themselves to a shared vision of Soviet Russia’s glorious future.

Associated public programming

— Raimond will discuss the exhibition at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 7, in the museum’s North Balcony. At 7 p.m. in the auditorium, films “Victory Over the Sun” and “Man with a Movie Camera” will be shown. Introduction will be given by William Comer, director of KU’s Center for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies.

— The film “Aelita, Queen of Mars” will be screened at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 14, in the museum’s auditorium. Comer again will offer an introduction.

— The film “Ballets Russes” will be shown at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 21, in the museum’s auditorium. Introduction will be given by Joan Stone, lecturer in dance, and Jerel Hilding, associate professor of dance.

— Children’s art appreciation classes, titled “Machine Man,” will take place at 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 23, in the Central Court and galleries. Children will learn about Russian artist El Lissitzky and create a metal sculpture. Space is limited; pre-enrollment is required. To enroll, contact the museum’s Education Department, (785) 864-0137 or smakids@ku.edu.

— Raimond will conduct a gallery conversation on the exhibit at 12:15 p.m. Thursday, April 3, in the North Balcony.

— Teacher workshops, “Art, Politics and Revolution: The Russian Avant-Garde and the Struggle for Ideas,” will take place from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, April 12, in the museum’s auditorium and galleries. The workshop is sponsored by the Center for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies. For more information, contact Tatyana V. Wilds, international outreach coordinator, at (785) 864-4237 or tvw@ku.edu.

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