Thursday, February 26, 2009
Art and Politics ~ The Kandinsky Prize
A few months ago the Kandinsky Prize was awarded to artist Alexey Belyaev-Gintovt. In Russia the Kandinsky Prize is a huge deal but many artists abroad might not be familiar with it. The award serves to promote Russia's contemporary art and has been compared to the Turner Prize. Belyaev-Gintovt's victory caused a huge uproar due to his political views. Many disprove of the artist's support for Russia's current administration. It doesn't really help matters that his art is chalked full of images that evoke Stalin's memory. Which makes one wonder can an artist who uses his art to promote his political views be judged fairly by his peers? In this case the answer was, 'no'. During the ceremony last year's winner, Anatoly Osmolovsky, stood up and led the room in chanting, 'disgrace'. Osmolovsky was not outraged by a lack of talent. He was speaking out against Belyaev-Gintovt's political views and the subject matter of his paintings. Due to his political views should Belyaev-Gintovt have been denied the award? Artists often paint what they are most passionate about and even though we might disagree with their views reigning them in cripples their creative nature.
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2 comments:
Belyaev-Gintovt should not have been denied the award; and indeed he should paint on. At the same time, Osmolovsky should not be muzzled. He reacted passionately to Belyaev-Gintovt getting the award and to his paintings. That is good; and perhaps inevitable based on history and the way Stalin is remembered. But both are passionate and both are expressing themselves. What else can we expect from artists? Sometimes the risk is put into the painting; and sometimes the risk is leading a romm full of people to protest.
And I believe a political artist can be judged fairly by his peers because part of the deal in the risk of putting his views out there is that they may get slammed. It's part of the art. And if he's just a political hack sucking up to the current administration his time will be short anyway. But if he's truly a serious artist then he will be and must be judged by his peers.
I agree. Thank you so much for your comment. I like to toss things out there and see how people respond. I love Osmolovsky's work! Belyaev-Gintonvt is a very skilled artist but his views are a real turn off. It would be nice if he were simply a landscape artist but then of course he wouldn't be the Belyaev-Gintovt.
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