The Non-Conformists

Paintings, installations, sculptures and photographs from around fifty artists compose a chronological course of the different currents of non-conformist art in the former U.S.S.R and Russia. The Tretyakov Collection was created between 1983 and 2008 on the initiative of Russian art critic Andrei Erofeev to create a museum of the history of art mavericks in Moscow, as no Soviet institution was interested in the avant-garde. Originally composed of more than 5000 pieces, a selection of this collection eventually became part of the Tretyakov National Gallery, making it the first institution to house a department of Russian contemporary art. The exhibition thus allows a new dive in to this Underground of the years 1960-2000. Each chapter brings together artists from the same movement and highlights their affinity with Tachism, kinetic art, Pop Art, conceptual art, or performance. The composition of the collection, revealing the sometimes-complex relationships between artists, official art of the Soviet era and institutions, will be evoked by historical documents, chronological friezes and an educational program. Text in English and French.