In his new project Novikov continues to study the postcolonial discourse, directly addressing the historical past of the USSR for the first time. The artist focuses on the consequences of the country's involvement in many conflicts around the world – from anti-colonial uprisings to civil wars: Soviet citizens have fought on various fronts far from the Motherland. The Communist Party explained its presence in Afghanistan, Egypt, Vietnam, Angola, and other countries, as fulfilling its so-called "international duty". Under the pretext of empathising with the proletariat of the world, a specific form of cultural and political hegemony was being realised, and the internationalist servicemen involuntarily turned out to be the colonial rearguard.
In his new project Ivan Novikov highlights the ambivalent position of the oppressor and the oppressed, the bearer of an alien culture and the representative of the traditional way of life, trying to understand decolonisation and answer the question of what exactly "international duty" means today.
The exhibition will feature paintingsand objects. These works created by the artist in such art forms will show the viewer Novikov’s method that he calls "work in progress". A repeated iconographic refrain, a series of painting pieces executed in the artist’s unique style and small-scale sculptures, sorts of objects-sketches, – will become, in the format of an installation, a testimony to his ongoing study.
Booklet with text by Gleb Napreenko.
Venue: pop/off/art gallery (Moscow)
Date: 12.09.2018 – 16.10.2018
