Reframing Society: Russian Constructivist Photography

Exhibition

Ellen Raimond, curator

February 2, 2008–May 18, 2008

North Balcony, Spencer Museum of Art, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas

Following the aftermath of the October Revolution of 1917, Constructivism emerged from within the Russian avant-garde both as an artistic practice and as a term expressing a belief in the birth of a new relationship between the artist and society. In their formally innovative photographs incorporating high or low vantage points, oblique angles, and dramatic diagonal compositions Alexander Rodchenko, Boris Ignatovich, and Georgy Zelma strove to revolutionize their countryman’s visual thinking. These photographers managed to capture through their lenses a changing way of life in the post-revolutionary era. This exhibition of photographs, selected from the Spencer’s permanent collection, seeks to explore how the Constructivist movement-armed with the mission of reinventing Russian society-successfully created images that were strongly rooted in design while reflecting the distinctive characteristics of Soviet life.

This exhibition is organized by Spencer Museum of Art Photography Intern Ellen Raimond in conjunction with the exhibition El Lissitzky: Futurist Portfolios.