Yevgeniy Fiks
Encyclopedia
Yevgeniy Fiks is a New York-based, Post-Soviet conceptual artist. He was born in Moscow, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) in 1972 and has since been living and working in New York City since his immigration in 1994. Fiks is a naturalized American citizen.
Fiks' work focuses on the dialectic between Communism and "the West", bringing to light the intersections between the histories of the twentieth century international leftist movements, American history, Modernism
, and legacy of the Cold War
. Although not a Communist himself and identifying as "only slightly to the left of the Democratic Party", Fiks' interest in Communist discourse stems from his experience in the Soviet Union and spans from his understanding of the position of the Post-Soviet artist—as one who brings into discussion the proper understanding of Soviet history. His work is characterized by historical approach in which Fiks presents forgotten and unresolved micro-historical narratives into present day discourse.
Fiks' artist statement begins with the following introduction:
Using scenes that portray propaganda images from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
films Song of Russia
and North Star and Warner Brothers film Mission to Moscow
, Fiks painted each stills to bring attention to the practice of Socialist Realism
in America. These movies were made at the behest of President Franklin D. Roosevelt
to promote Soviet-American relationship during World War II.
Fiks describes the irony of these movies:
, General Electric
, and IBM
. Fiks received 35 response letters with 14 companies accepting the donation. The resulting response letters of rejection and acceptance compiled the art installation, which has been shown worldwide. The project questions the contemporary mentality of corporations as "entities" and the fate of Lenin's critique of imperialism today. This project has also been compiled into a book with the same title.
(CPUSA) in the form of portraiture
. These portraits were painted in 2007 directly from life at the New York City headquarters of the Communist Party USA. The project attempts to question the limits of traditional Socialist Realist portraiture applied today to portraits of contemporary American Communist.
In his essay entitled, Why I Paint American Communist? Fiks reveals his motive not only in yielding CPUSA as a subject of his artwork but also the medium to which the project was realized:
house in Greenwich Village, and W.E.B. DuBois apartment in Harlem
. This project was published into a guidebook.
and from shops in Moscow. From September to October 2008, Winkleman Gallery hosted a solo show for Fiks where all collected memorabilia were put on display to be "adopted" and taken for free by viewers. The catch is that participants or "adopters" signed a legal contract preventing them from putting the memorabilia back in the market. In short, they can't sell them again. The signed contracts were also on display as part of the art exhibition.
In an ArtSlant review entitled, "Lenin Re-commodified", Yaelle Amir writes:
His work has been included in the 2008 Biennale of Sydney; the Thessaloniki Biennale of Contemporary Art in 2007; and the Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art in 2009, 2007 and 2005.
See a full list of Fiks' Exhibitions.
Fiks' work focuses on the dialectic between Communism and "the West", bringing to light the intersections between the histories of the twentieth century international leftist movements, American history, Modernism
Modernism
Modernism, in its broadest definition, is modern thought, character, or practice. More specifically, the term describes the modernist movement, its set of cultural tendencies and array of associated cultural movements, originally arising from wide-scale and far-reaching changes to Western society...
, and legacy of the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
. Although not a Communist himself and identifying as "only slightly to the left of the Democratic Party", Fiks' interest in Communist discourse stems from his experience in the Soviet Union and spans from his understanding of the position of the Post-Soviet artist—as one who brings into discussion the proper understanding of Soviet history. His work is characterized by historical approach in which Fiks presents forgotten and unresolved micro-historical narratives into present day discourse.
Fiks' artist statement begins with the following introduction:
- My work is inspired by the collapse of the Soviet bloc, which led me to the realization of the necessity to reexamine the Soviet experience in the context of the history of the LeftLeft-wing politicsIn politics, Left, left-wing and leftist generally refer to support for social change to create a more egalitarian society...
, including that of the international Communist movement. My work is a reaction to the collective amnesia within the post-SovietPost-Soviet statesThe post-Soviet states, also commonly known as the Former Soviet Union or former Soviet republics, are the 15 independent states that split off from the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in its dissolution in December 1991...
space over the last decade, on the one hand, and the repression of the histories of the American Left in the US, on the other.
Art
Fiks has produced a variety of projects focusing on the Post-Soviet dialog in the West, including:Song of Russia (2005–2007)
Fiks' Song of Russia is a series of oil paintings of images from Hollywood movies produced between 1943 and 1944 whose narratives focus on Russian life.Using scenes that portray propaganda images from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
films Song of Russia
Song of Russia
Song of Russia is a 1944 American war film made and distributed by MGM Studios. The picture was credited as being directed by Gregory Ratoff, though Ratoff collapsed near the end of the five-month production, and was replaced by László Benedek, who completed principal photography; the credited...
and North Star and Warner Brothers film Mission to Moscow
Mission to Moscow
Mission to Moscow is a book by the former U.S. Ambassador to the Soviet Union Joseph E. Davies published by Simon and Schuster in 1941. It was adapted into a film directed by Michael Curtiz in 1943....
, Fiks painted each stills to bring attention to the practice of Socialist Realism
Socialist realism
Socialist realism is a style of realistic art which was developed in the Soviet Union and became a dominant style in other communist countries. Socialist realism is a teleologically-oriented style having its purpose the furtherance of the goals of socialism and communism...
in America. These movies were made at the behest of President Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
to promote Soviet-American relationship during World War II.
Fiks describes the irony of these movies:
- What makes these films unique is that they were produced in the USA during the Second World War, that is between the anti-Soviet hysteria that followed the October Revolution and the "Cold War" era. These films were made possible only during 1943–1944 when the goals of the American and Soviet propaganda machines coincided. The project "Song of Russia" reflects this forgotten chapter of the history of American cinema and narrates about the artificiality of the process of enemy construction.
Lenin for Your Library? (2005–2006)
In this project, Fiks sent one hundred copies of V.I. Lenin's book, Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism, as donations to major transnational corporations around the world including, among many others, Gap, Inc., Coca-ColaCoca-Cola
Coca-Cola is a carbonated soft drink sold in stores, restaurants, and vending machines in more than 200 countries. It is produced by The Coca-Cola Company of Atlanta, Georgia, and is often referred to simply as Coke...
, General Electric
General Electric
General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...
, and IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
. Fiks received 35 response letters with 14 companies accepting the donation. The resulting response letters of rejection and acceptance compiled the art installation, which has been shown worldwide. The project questions the contemporary mentality of corporations as "entities" and the fate of Lenin's critique of imperialism today. This project has also been compiled into a book with the same title.
Communist Party USA (2007)
This project focuses on current members of the Communist Party USACommunist Party USA
The Communist Party USA is a Marxist political party in the United States, established in 1919. It has a long, complex history that is closely related to the histories of similar communist parties worldwide and the U.S. labor movement....
(CPUSA) in the form of portraiture
Portrait painting
Portrait painting is a genre in painting, where the intent is to depict the visual appearance of the subject. Beside human beings, animals, pets and even inanimate objects can be chosen as the subject for a portrait...
. These portraits were painted in 2007 directly from life at the New York City headquarters of the Communist Party USA. The project attempts to question the limits of traditional Socialist Realist portraiture applied today to portraits of contemporary American Communist.
In his essay entitled, Why I Paint American Communist? Fiks reveals his motive not only in yielding CPUSA as a subject of his artwork but also the medium to which the project was realized:
- My intention is to inform. These paintings portray those who identify as Communists in the present-day United States. It's about stating facts—and the fact is that there are Communists in the USA circa 2006. The existence of Communists in the USA, a quintessential late-capitalist nation, fifteen years after the collapse of the Soviet bloc is highly subversive and problematic for a post-Soviet subject. How can a post-Soviet subject come to terms with the fact of existence of American Communists today? How can she explain it? Communism is dead in Eastern Europe but Abdul, Sheltrees, Dan and others whom I painted are living, breathing, and thinking New Yorkers of the 2000s. It's precisely in this context of the proclaimed death of Communism and the end of the Cold War that I focus my attention on American Communists today. It's the contradiction between the notion of death of Communism and a sense of life emanating from those whom I painted that is so disturbing.
Communist Guide to New York City (2008)
This project is a collection of photographs of buildings and public places in New York City that are connected to the history of the American Communist movement. This includes the contemporary offices of CPUSA on West 23rd street, John ReedJohn Reed
-Arts, letters, and entertainment:* John Reed , New York novelist and author* John Reed , actor and singer with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company* John Reed , Australian critic and art patron...
house in Greenwich Village, and W.E.B. DuBois apartment in Harlem
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
. This project was published into a guidebook.
Adopt Lenin (2008)
In this project, Fiks spent $5000 collecting Lenin memorabilia including Lenin’s busts, small statues, posters and photographs from EbayEBay
eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...
and from shops in Moscow. From September to October 2008, Winkleman Gallery hosted a solo show for Fiks where all collected memorabilia were put on display to be "adopted" and taken for free by viewers. The catch is that participants or "adopters" signed a legal contract preventing them from putting the memorabilia back in the market. In short, they can't sell them again. The signed contracts were also on display as part of the art exhibition.
In an ArtSlant review entitled, "Lenin Re-commodified", Yaelle Amir writes:
- With this process, Fiks is asking that visitors take part in maintaining the essence of the communist era as a crucial point in history, rather than a source of popular commodity that will come and go as any other fashion. This small act is a poetic intervention into the inevitable romanticization of history, delaying ever so slightly the dimming effects of time and memory.
Work
| Year | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Stalin's Directive on Modern Art | A series of historical photographs that establish the connection between Modern Artists and Communist figures, both cultural or political and Soviet or Western. This show was exhibited in 2010 as part of Gregory Sholette's show, Wellington Collaboratorium: An Imaginary Archive, at Enjoy Art Gallery in New Zealand. This will also be exhibited in Fall 2010 at Temple Gallery, Temple University Temple University Temple University is a comprehensive public research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Originally founded in 1884 by Dr. Russell Conwell, Temple University is among the nation's largest providers of professional education and prepares the largest body of professional... as part of Fiks' solo installation entitled, Communist Conspiracy in Art Threatens American Museums (a derivative of his Communist Tour of MoMA project and curated by Stamatina Gregory). |
| 2010 | Ayn Rand in Illustrations | This project is a series of mixed media drawings in grisaille illustrating Ayn Rand's books (Atlas Shrugged Atlas Shrugged Atlas Shrugged is a novel by Ayn Rand, first published in 1957 in the United States. Rand's fourth and last novel, it was also her longest, and the one she considered to be her magnum opus in the realm of fiction writing... , We the Living We the Living We the Living is the first novel published by the Russian-American novelist Ayn Rand. It was also Rand's first statement against communism. First published in 1936, it is a story of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Rand observes in the foreword to this book that We the Living was the closest she... and the Fountainhead) using images from Socialist Realist Art Socialist realism Socialist realism is a style of realistic art which was developed in the Soviet Union and became a dominant style in other communist countries. Socialist realism is a teleologically-oriented style having its purpose the furtherance of the goals of socialism and communism... . This project was debuted at Winkleman Gallery in New York City. |
| 2010 | Communist Tour of MoMA | This project was a guerrilla performance in March 2010 at the Museum of Modern Art Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world... , revealing historical facts that link Modern Artists to the Communist movement. This project was curated by Stamitina Gregory as part of the 2010 Armory Show Armory Show Many exhibitions have been held in the vast spaces of U.S. National Guard armories, but the Armory Show refers to the 1913 International Exhibition of Modern Art that was organized by the Association of American Painters and Sculptors... . |
| 2009 | American Cold War Veterans Association | Portraits of current members of the American Cold War Veterans Association. |
| 2009 | American Communists in Moscow | This performance is a series of walking tours highlighting Moscow sites that are connected to American Communists who lived, worked or died in Moscow. This project was part of the 3rd Moscow Biennale Moscow Biennale The Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art is one of the most important Russian cultural events and was founded in 2003.- First Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art :... in 2009. |
| 2009 | A Gift to Birobidzhan | This is a curatorial project by Fiks. In this project, progressive international artists were asked to donate one of their pieces to the Birobidzhan Museum. Birobidzhan Birobidzhan Birobidzhan is a town and the administrative center of the Jewish Autonomous Oblast, Russia. It is located on the Trans-Siberian railway, close to the border with the People's Republic of China.... , a city located in the Trans-Siberian Railway Trans-Siberian Railway The Trans-Siberian Railway is a network of railways connecting Moscow with the Russian Far East and the Sea of Japan. It is the longest railway in the world... , was a failed utopian project implemented by Joseph Stalin Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee... in an effort to create a Jewish autonomous region. |
| 2008 | Kimjongilias a.k.a. “Flower Paintings” | This is a portraiture Portraiture Portraiture may refer to:* The creation of any portrait, an artistic representation of a person, including** Portrait painting.** Portrait photography.** Self Portait. MS... project in which Fiks paints Kimjongilia Kimjongilia Kimjongilia is a flower named after North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. It is a hybrid cultivar of tuberous begonia.Contrary to popular belief, the Kimjongilia is not a national flower of North Korea... s, a flower named after the North Korean dictator, Kim Jong-Il Kim Jong-il Kim Jong-il, also written as Kim Jong Il, birth name Yuri Irsenovich Kim born 16 February 1941 or 16 February 1942 , is the Supreme Leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea... . Fiks used large, rugged strokes in this project, as a way to suggest his protest against the totalitarian representation of the subject. |
| 2008 | Reading Lenin with Corporations | In collaboration with Kent Hansen, Olga Kopenkina, and Alexandra Lerman. |
| 2008 | Monitoring Lenin's Sales on Amazon.com | This project monitors sales of Essential Works of Lenin: "What Is to Be Done?" and Other Writings What is to be Done? What to do? Burning Questions of Our Movement is a political pamphlet written by the Russian revolutionary Vladimir Lenin in 1901 and published in 1902... (Paperback) by Vladimir Ilyich Lenin on Amazon.com Amazon.com Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and... . |
| 2008 | Leniniana | |
| 2008 | Adopt Lenin | |
| 2007–2008 | Communist Party USA Commemorative Stamps | |
| 2007 | Communist Guide to New York City | |
| 2007 | Communist Party USA | |
| 2005–2006 | Lenin for Your Library? | |
| 2005–2007 | Song of Russia |
Essays
Some of Fiks' ideas that are reflected in his work can be found in his texts published in various magazines:- Why I Paint American Communists?
- Responsibilities of the Post-Soviet Artist
- Post-Diaspora: Statement and Premonition
- Post-Diaspora: Notes on the Second World's Exile, Postmodernism, and Diaspora Nationalism
Books
- Lenin for Your Library? from Ante Projects, edited by Nick Herman with an essay by Olga Kopenkina.
- Communist Guide to New York City from Common Books, edited by Common Room with essays by Olga Kopenkina and Kim Foster.
Exhibitions
Fiks has shown internationally including exhibitions at:- Helexpo (Athens, Greece)
- Art Laboratory Berlin (Berlin, Germany)
- Contemporary City Foundation (Moscow, Russia)
- Museu Colecção Berardo (Lisbon, Portugal)
- Abbaye Saint Andre Contemporary Art Center (Meymac, France)
- Marat GelmanMarat GelmanMarat Alexandrovich Gelman is an owner and director of Guelman's Contemporary Art Gallery, ex-owner of the Foundation for Effective Politics, and the former assistant director of Channel One .-Early years:...
's Guelman's Contemporary Art Gallery (Moscow, Russia) - ARTStrelka Projects (Moscow, Russia)
- Palazzo delle Arti Napoli (Naples, Italy)
- Winkleman Gallery (New York City, NY)
- Common Room 2 (New York City, NY)
- Galerie Blue Square (Paris, France)
- Temple GalleryTyler School of ArtThe Stella Elkins Tyler School of Art, usually just referred to as Tyler School of Art is Temple University's school of art, which confers BFA and MFA degrees. The school was originally founded by sculptors Stella Elkins Tyler and Boris Blai on a separate 14-acre estate in Elkins Park...
(Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - The Philadelphia Museum of Art (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
- Centro per l’arte contemporanea Luigi Pecci (Prato, Italy)
- European UniversityEuropean UniversityThe European University is a multi-campus business school, established in 1973, with headquarters in Switzerland. It operates campuses in Switzerland , Spain , Germany , and the United Kingdom , with an executive facility in Yvorne, Switzerland.European University's Spain campus was ranked at 52...
(St. Petersburg, Russia) - State Museum of Russian Political History (St. Petersburg, Russia)
- The Lenin-Museo (Tampere, Finland)
- Enjoy Art Gallery (Wellington, New Zealand)
His work has been included in the 2008 Biennale of Sydney; the Thessaloniki Biennale of Contemporary Art in 2007; and the Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art in 2009, 2007 and 2005.
See a full list of Fiks' Exhibitions.