Memorable Dates of Russia: Exhibition "Space as Art" devoted to the 60th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's space flight opened in Moscow

On August 5, 2021, the ROSIZO State Museum and Exhibition Center (Moscow) launched an exhibition of paintings, sculptures and graphic works "Space as Art", marking the 60th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's space flight. The project highlights the theme of human space exploration in the works of Soviet artists of official and unofficial art.

The ROSIZO exhibition halls present artists of Moscow non-conformism, not recognized by the official authorities, and artists working within the framework of Soviet ideology. The exposition includes more than 30 works provided by ROSIZO, the Yekaterina Cultural Foundation, the Union of Artists of Russia and a private collection. The project is arranged with the support of the Ministry of Culture of Russia.

Also, ROSIZO specialists showcase for the first time after restoration a five-meter canvas "Goodbye, Earth" by Boris Okorokov. It was created in 1970, and for a long time was unavailable for the general audience (stored in Poland).

The exposition features the works by the sculptor L. Kerbel and the painter A. Plotnov familiar with the first cosmonaut. These artists were very enthusiastic about creating the bust and portrait of the hero.

The section of official Soviet art includes O. Komov's Portrait of Cosmonaut V. V. Aksyonov, M. Pyaskovsky triptych The Earth Listens, E. Korneyev's canvas On the Road. S. P. Korolyov. These works are not just illustrations of heroic everyday life of Soviet scientists and cosmonauts, but rather an occasion for a talk about eternal issues - honour and duty, love for the Fatherland, readiness for heroism.

A different concept of space is presented by unofficial artists, including P. Belenok, V. Komar and A. Melamid, F. Infante-Aran. These authors perceived astronomical objects as a source of inspiration and a way of expressing their ideas about the world.

The exposition also features several original works that are difficult to attribute to official or unofficial art. These are works by Sh. Bedoev and V. Sakhatov in the mythological genre and hyperrealistic works by M. Borisov and D. Kolistratov.

The exhibition will run until September 26, 2021.