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the sometimes-complex relationships between artists, official art of the Soviet era and institutions, will be evoked by historical documents, chronological friezes and an educational program.Text in English and French.