May 1: Opening Reception for "Leningrad's Perestroika: Crosscurrents in Photography, Video, and Music"

New Brunswick, NJ - Young people restless in the late 1980s turned to art to express themselves in a city repeatedly at the forefront of change, embracing a DIY attitude in all their endeavors. They experimented with photography and the newly available medium of video; their music declared personal and global anxieties. These artists were not in London, New York, or Los Angeles: they lived half a world away in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), Russia. "Leningrad's Perestroika: Crosscurrents in Photography, Video, and Music," on view at the Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers University through September 13, 2013, examines - through the eyes of these artists - the final years leading to the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, as well as its immediate aftermath.

With more than 60 photographs and videos, the exhibition presents - for the first time - photographers, musicians, and video artists as active members of groups, rather than individuals, to underscore their collective goals. Most of the works in the exhibition, which were created between 1985 and 1993, have not been seen in the United States. In addition, newly translated interviews with - and critical writings by - the artists present firsthand accounts of participation in these cultural networks.

Drawn from the Zimmerli's Norton and Nancy Dodge Collection of Nonconformist Art from the Soviet Union, this exhibition presents the largely overlooked, provocative underground milieu that existed in Leningrad during the time frame. "Interest has focused on painting and sculpture," explains Corina L. Apostol, a Dodge Fellow at the Zimmerli and Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Art History at Rutgers, who organized the exhibition, the first in the United States to consider this fertile material. She continues, "Despite lingering state censorship, this era represents an unusual time of artistic freedom, collaborations, and experiments among and between artists working in photography, film, and video."

The opening reception takes place during Art After Hours: First Wednesdays on May 1, from 5 to 9 p.m. The evening begins with a curator-led exhibition tour at 5:30, followed by a 6:15 screening of the short documentary "Chronicles of Perestroika," a compilation of archive footage of demonstrations in Leningrad from 1987 to 1991 that captures unique moments in contemporary history, creating a context for the eventual dissolution of the Soviet Union in August of 1991. Filmmaker Dmitry Vilensky** joins us for a discussion. At 7:30, the New York-based Russian punk rock band Kooperativ Zvezda (Star Cooperation) performs. They cite the influence of Soviet-era underground bands: DDT, Alisa, Kino, and Grazhdanskaya Oborona. The band is politically active, supporting the artists' collective Voina and the band Pussy Riot. They appear regularly in the New York area; in 2012, they also performed at the Echo, JetLAG, and Solnyshko festivals. Their videos are available on www.youtube.com/user/verziIIa<http://www.youtube.com/user/verziIIa>.

** Vilensky's early photography is featured in the exhibition; he also is a founding member of Chto Delat? (What is to be done?), a platform initiated in 2003 by a collective of artists, critics, philosophers, and writers who share the goal of merging political theory, art, and activism.

For complete press releases and additional information, please visit www.zimmerlimuseum.rutgers.edu<http://www.zimmerlimuseum.rutgers.edu>.

LOCATION AND HOURS
The Zimmerli Art Museum is located at 71 Hamilton Street at George Street on the College Avenue campus of Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. The Zimmerli is a short walk from the NJ Transit train station in New Brunswick, midway between New York City and Philadelphia.

Hours are Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Saturday and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m., and the first Wednesday of each month (except August), 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. The museum is closed Mondays, major holidays, and the month of August.

Admission is $6 for adults; $5 for 65 and over; and free for museum members, children under 18, and Rutgers students, faculty, and staff (with ID). Admission is free on the first Sunday of every month. For more information, call 848.932.7237 or visit the museum's website: www.zimmerlimuseum.rutgers.edu<http://www.zimmerlimuseum.rutgers.edu>


Theresa C. Watson
Communications Coordinator
Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers University
71 Hamilton Street
New Brunswick, NJ 08901
Tel 848.932.7237, ext. 26709
Fax 732.932.8201
[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>
www.zimmerlimuseum.rutgers.edu<http://www.zimmerlimuseum.rutgers.edu/>
www.facebook.com/ZimmerliArtMuseum
@zimmerlimuseum

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