Queer(ing) Russian Art : Realism, Revolution, Performance

“Everywhere and throughout history queerness is a political act, yet missing narratives remain. That is why the comprehensive survey of queer Russian cultural practice mapped in these pages is so revelatory. The scholarly investigations contained herein are as capacious as the land-mass they mean to situate, and they are indispensable to any contemporary understanding of our accelerating international cultural and political dilemmas. Perhaps more importantly, you will be treated to probative examinations of the consequential disposition of current Russian queer cultural production, which shed light on the bold, resourceful, and inventive radicalism they represent. This book is essential reading for anyone concerned with twenty-first century meaning-making.” 

— Avram Finkelstein, founding member of the Silence=Death collective [OR Avram Finkelstein, artist, writer, activist]

“Yevgeniy Fiks and Brian James Baer have put together a truly important, timely collection that offers a broad and engaging view of queerness in Russian art. The scholarly chapters focus on well-known artists (Somov, Eisenstein, Deineka, the Moscow conceptualists, the New Academy…) and yet invariably surprise: the volume’s contributors show us new ways to understand familiar images and topics.  The inclusion of works of conceptual art and interviews with contemporary artists in the final section makes the volume even livelier and stronger.”

 — Emily D. Johnson, Brian and Sandra O’Brien Presidential Professor of Russian, University of Oklahoma