Soviet Dis-Union: Socialist Realist and Nonconformist Art

If the current U.S. government funded art that reflected its ideals, we might see Thomas Kinkade’s cottage scenes take over museums as well as shopping malls. (Then again, Kinkade’s apparently acquired a rep for groping women and urinating in elevators, so perhaps he’s more bad-boy art star than the Bush administration might wish to sanction.) In the former Soviet Union, a system of art patronage led to the establishment of the Socialist Realists, a school of art that, like Kinkade, was none too subtle in lauding home, hearth, and country. But even as the Socialist Realists projected Communist ideals, celebrated Soviet leaders, and stayed well within the bounds of staunchly conservative stylistic traditions, another group that became known as “the nonconformists” was painting a vastly different picture of the Soviet experience—often at extreme risk to their own careers and even lives. Shown together in this fascinating and rare convergence, dozens of works reveal a world that was, and a world that never could have been. 5500 Stevens Ave. S., Minneapolis; 612-821-9045; www.tmora.org