Rodchenko and His Circle

21 January - 21 March

Art Sensus

Over two hundred previously unseen photographs by Russian artist Alexander Rodchenko, held in private hands until now, will be unveiled at newly branded Art Sensus on 21 January, as part of the first comprehensive gallery exhibition devoted to the artist’s photographic work and that of his contemporaries. Curated by John Milner, Rodchenko and his Circle will feature seven hundred powerful photographs revealing the artist’s response to Communism in relation to the professional photographers he worked with: Naum S. Granovsky, Simon Fridland, Max Alpert, Evgeni Khaldei and Georgii Zelma. A body of work from the Vkhutemas school, largely influenced by Rodchenko’s teaching, will also go on display for the first time.

Starting off with the group’s diverse propaganda work produced under Lenin and Stalin, the exhibition explores the industrialization of Soviet Russia and the emergence of collective thought – labour workers expanding communications and electricity, factories, crowds and parades – comrades working together towards the communal vision implemented under Stalin’s reign. Some photographers, Alpert and Zelma in particular, also recorded ancient cultures such as the Shamans living in Siberia, an anthropological preview of a society about to be embraced by the Soviet ideology.

Visit www.artsensus.com for further information