Exhibition of Moscow's Unofficial Art from 1950s-1970s Explores Post-Stalin Creative Freedom

Curated by Marina Sandmann, the exhibition titled 'The Quest for Freedom. Moscow Artists of the 1950's - 1970's' presented the creations of eighteen unofficial Soviet artists. It was held at Berlin's Russisches Haus until February 14, 1999, and then moved to Lauenburg's Zündholzfabrik from February 21 to April 21, 1999. The showcase traced artistic evolution following Stalin's death in 1953, with a focus on the notable 1974 'Bulldozer exhibition.' Divided into four segments, it included abstract pieces from the 1950s by Vladimir Nemukhin and others, works from the 1960s by 'Metaphysicists' like Eduard Shteynberg, and explorations of grotesque expressionism and conceptualism by Ernst Neizvestny and Ilya Kabakov. Official Socialist Realist art was notably absent. A full-color catalog was priced at DM 35.