Alexander Kosolapov, one of the most controversial and provoking Russian pop artists. He was born in Moscow, Russia in 1943 and immigrated to the United States in 1975, since then he lives and works in New York city.
“I was always drawn to social and informational products. I like posters, advertisements, comics, political slogans. I use the shared language of modern mass culture, addressed to an anonymous viewer… All these elements (of mass culture) are reflected in my Sots-art and pop-art works.”
Kosolapov’s Marlboro, Malevich series tackles the subjects of art history and our consumer culture. This image re-creates the instantly recognisable cigarette packet, substituting the word Marlboro for Malevich — a reference to the Russian artist Kazimir Malevich.
Tatlin — Death of Avantgarde
Hero, Leader, God or simply Lenin, Mickey, Jesus
Alexander Kosolapov, This Is My Blood (2001)
In January 2003, the Andrei Sakharov Museum in Moscow staged the exhibition “Beware, Religion!,” in which Kosolapov’s daring series of prints, which mixed pop art with religious imagery, was included. The exhibition was meant to call attention to the prominent role of religion in dictating public taste in Russia.
The Project’s Story
"The Russians landed on the Moon and painted it red. Then the Americans came and used that red as a background for the Coca-Cola logo. I heard that joke when I was a child.
I designed the Lenin Coca Cola image in 1980. It was inspired by and addressed to the media. In 1982 it was put out as a postcard, printed first in Paris by Igor Chelkovsky. After that, I published my own edition of Lenin Coca-Cola postcards in New York. The same year I made my first silk screen print of the image."
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