NOTFOREVER: Capturing the collective soul of the stagnation era

Irene Kukota | Russian Art and Culture | 10th August 2020

A “milestone” show of Soviet art from the “stagnation” era of 1968 – 85. Communism was discredited, leading to nostalgia for the “pre-Revolutionary past”. Official work now seems unexpectedly “diverse”, only a part being “neurotic, kitschy”. Unofficial “anti-Soviet” art was even more diverse, some focusing on the double lives of so many. Religious mysticism was another theme. Overall, a “somewhat overwhelming, art experience” (like the review itself).