The Arts Society Corinium

22nd April

From Suprematism to Agitprop: Russian Art and Revolution

by Anna Moszynska

Following on from her book Abstract Art, Anna Moszynska discusses Russian pioneers of the early 20th century (including Kasimir Malevich, El Lissitzky, Vladimir Tatlin, Aleksandr Rodchenko, Lyubov Popova and Varvara Stepanova). I address the hugely exciting and diverse ways in which the role of art changed in the post-Revolutionary society of the time, extending, developing and completely changing earlier assumptions about art. Whether this involved a transcendent purpose or a purely utilitarian one, for a brief period before Soviet Socialist Realism took hold, Russian artists pursued an unprecedented degree of experimentation. Freely crossing between art, design, photography and film, they sought to define and celebrate the formation of a new society, their divergent art practices still inspiring artists today.

Anna Moszynska is a London-based lecturer and writer specialising in contemporary art. During the 1990s, who oversaw the development of the subject as the first Master’s Degree at Sotheby’s Institute. She has also taught at other institutions in London including The City Lit, the Royal Academy and Tate, as well as lecturing in cities ranging from Dubai to New York and Berlin to Sydney. She continues to offer guest lectures on the Sotheby’s Institute MA in Contemporary Art. Apart from the many catalogue essays she has written on living artists, her books include Abstract Art (1990, enlarged ed. 2020) and Sculpture Now (2013), both published by Thames & Hudson, and two books on the drawings of Antony Gormley. She enjoys introducing art to audiences in a lively and approachable way to make modern and contemporary art both accessible and interesting.

Images courtesy of Anna Moszynska and Wiki Commons Images (Public Domain)

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