Nikita Kadan on Soviet Modernism and Picasso's Skulls
In an essay for Afterall Journal 52, Ukrainian artist Nikita Kadan explores the paradoxical afterlife of Soviet modernist architecture. He notes that during the Soviet era, buildings now labeled 'Soviet Modernist' were never called modernist; the term 'modernism' was used pejoratively. Picasso's skull paintings, for instance, illustrated anti-modernist texts like Mikhail Lifshitz's 'The Crisis of Ugliness: From Cubism to Pop-Art' (1968). Kadan imagines these skulls as protectors of surviving SovMod buildings in Kyiv, Dnipro, Odessa, and the war-torn Donetsk region, framing the fetishization of Soviet architecture as a contemporary phenomenon disconnected from its original ideological context.
Key facts
- Essay published in Afterall Journal 52 on November 11, 2021.
- Written by Ukrainian artist Nikita Kadan.
- Soviet buildings were never called 'modernist' during the USSR; 'modernism' was used negatively.
- Picasso's skull paintings were used in anti-modernist books like Lifshitz's 'The Crisis of Ugliness' (1968).
- Soviet discussions about modernism and modernity are now largely forgotten.
- Soviet architecture and monumental art have been rebranded as 'Soviet Modernism' for younger generations.
- Kadan references surviving SovMod buildings in Kyiv, Dnipro, Odessa, and Donetsk.
- The essay is part of Afterall, a contemporary art journal.
Entities
Artists
- Nikita Kadan
- Pablo Picasso
- Mikhail Lifshitz
Institutions
- Afterall
Locations
- Kyiv
- Dnipro
- Odessa
- Donetsk
Sources
- Afterall —