Alexander Kosolapov: Sots Art

Alexander Kosolapov is one of the most remarkable go-betweeners of contemporary art, a nomadic presence across ideologies and cultures and a hero of Russian Conceptualism alongside Ilya Kabakov, Boris Mikhailov and Dmitri Prigov. In 1973, he cofounded the Sots-Art movement, which satirically conflated Soviet and American capitalist iconographies; in 1975 he relocated to New York, remaining there for 30 years and immersing himself in the American art scene. Dovetailing Russian political art with American Pop, Kosolapov created such well-known images as the Lenin Coca Cola (1985), Malevich Marlborough and Lenin McDonald’s. In his most recent works, Kosolapov proposes new, nonexistent brands for post-Soviet Russia. This substantial survey appraises the entirety of his career to date.