Rethinking Soviet Posters: Exhibit at San Diego City College Visual Arts Gallery

The Soviet Union? Yes, that was a country and one worth remembering.

The Soviet Poster Show at the San Diego City Art Gallery provides both answers and questions to why it is worth remembering the country that once was.

We read in the news about an emboldened Russia trying to aggrandize and rebuild the old Soviet Union with Vladimir Putin imagining himself as a reincarnated Josef Stalin. In the face of this new Russian reality, the hope for a re-energized dialogue appears to be the illusion of the relatively recent reset.

On a personal note, I was named after Josif Stalin and was imbued with an appreciation for Soviet movies, visiting dance troupes and sense of a utopia-in-the-making - yes, great propaganda. At the time I was named Joseph, the Soviet Union was an ally of the United States in World War II. However, not too long after that war ended, the Cold War set in and the illusions of a communist utopia slowly came to light. Several decades later, there was a capitulation to the West, partly under the pressure of President Ronald Reagan; Mikhail Gorbachev led a radical reform of the Soviet Union in 1986 - called perestroika. Gorbachev also initiated a new mindset of openness or glasnost.

Jennifer Hewitson / Freedom Flight
As Russia continues to support aggressive moves in Ukraine, I’m brought back to my years of editorial illustration in the late 80’s and 90’s during the cold war, and the Soviet Union break up. The fate of Ukraine has me concerned for all the Baltic States, and former Soviet Bloc countries. Represented in my piece by the doves, their fluttering forms emerge from the waves, freed as the water flows from the melting ice, a symbol of the old cold war. The Russian bear looms, aggressively reaching, and disturbing the peace of the doves. Their rising shapes create his form, then metamorphose and spread across the sky.Will they remain free, as bright stars? Or fall back into the red?

The Soviet Poster Show presents posters from the glasnost period as well as current look backs and a sense of hopefulness. The exhibit asks us to consider whether and how that brief period of openness, of glasnost, might be achieved. The exhibit is a testament to the hopes, fears, illusions and disillusions of the artists and peoples caught up in a mad world. The play by Nathan Englander, The Twenty-Seventh Man, illustrates how easy it is to disappear an entire culture in the early 1950s (Stalin's elimination of Yiddish culture leaders in the Soviet Union); the current period under Vladimir Putin brackets the period of glasnost with jailing and assassination of opposition leaders. 

Lebnov / Stalinism
Illustration of Stalin without eyes, wearing a modern-day suit. This suggests that Stalinism lives on even today, in the guise of a (non-military) business man. This is a warning that Stalinism can appear in other forms. Part of the new spirit of glasnost involves official acceptance of sharply revised estimates for the numbers of victims of Stalin’s repressive measures. Soviet historian Roy Medvedev recently estimated the total figure at “no fewer than 10 million people,” although he notes that there are no official statistics available. in 1989 a society in memorial of Stalin’s victims was formed and proposed a monument encompassing a museum, archive, and library.

Candice Lopez and Sean Bacon, faculty members in San Diego City College's Graphic Design Department organized this exhibit. The show catalog can be previewed online and is available for purchase.

Joe Nalven:  How many posters are there? 
Candice Lopez:  You can see the collection we put up for Dialogues at this link and they are broken down into political, social issues, the arts and the Dialogues show [new works]. I selected about 50 pieces for this show from the overall collection of 75 posters. 

Joe Nalven:  What time period do they cover? 
Candice Lopez:  They depict political themes, social issues and the arts in the period during Perestroika and Glasnost. The new works were created in January/February 2015.

Joe Nalven:  What led you to this theme for a show?
Candice Lopez:  I wanted to feature these important historical posters and connect them to contemporary times. Their strong design and powerful graphics were a mirror of the Soviet Union during a time of remarkable change. Posters need to connect to the masses, especially young people and it's interesting to me that these designers were influenced by Western popular arts. I reached out to some very talented, well known designers, artists and illustrators including the national President of the American Institute of Graphic Arts to create new works. The theme dialogues felt right as I hoped the contemporary works by American designers would converse with our Soviet counterparts from this period in history. The new works dealt with both historical themes and contemporary issues like the war in Ukraine.

Joe Nalven:  Do you plan on posters from other countries (China, Poland, Israel, Egypt, Mexico, France etc.)?  I can see a series of national perspectives -- each with a lively presentation from poster art.
Candice Lopez:  I was very fortunate to get access to these works through my friendship with the owner of the collection Ron Miriello. I had no funding and wanted this show to be open to the college and community without charge. I would love to bring a collection of posters from other regions of the world given the opportunity. I do have some connections to Mexican designers and this is a possibility I would certainly entertain. I teach design history and it is thrilling to share my passion for this profession with my students and others who have attended the show. 

Tbe Soviet Poster Show at the City College Visual Arts Gallery 

Soviet Poster Show City Art Gallery:  San Diego City College / AH 314 1508 C Street, San Diego CA  92101 Gallery hours:  Monday to Thursday  1 to 4 pm Through April 16, 2015 Free  Contact:  Candice Lopez    Email:  calopez@sdccd.edu From the show’s information: DIALOGUES is a collection of commissioned contemporary posters done by American designers and artists in 2015. It is an attempt to reopen a dialogue that began in 1989, between Russia and the world. A dialogue of symbols, gestures and one-on-one encounters that have the potential to escalate into new and positive events. We saw it happen in San Diego in 1989, when American citizens wore lapel pins of a Russian President and shared toasts in salute of a new friend and fellow artists. Those friends and artist are still here and still making their art for change and to reopen a dialogue.

Savostiuk  /  1937   
A reminder of the black period under Stalin which many people were sent to Siberia and killed.

Rafael Lopez / Love/Evolve
The potential of the arts to promote peace and social change has always interested me. To craft a culture of peace you have to first imagine it. Artists around the world and throughout history have given voice to that ideal. A sharp pencil can be a powerful weapon to communicate the pathos of war. I’m greatly inspired by folk arts, many of which are living traditions. Birds are a common theme in Russian folklore and this region has a particular gift for storytelling. The folkloric pattern inside the bird represents a diverse patchwork of beliefs and opinions. The colors tip their hat to Russian Constructivism. When creating this poster, the recent peace agreement and conflict between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian separatists was on my mind and in the news. The two leaves symbolize differing points of view with the pencil of the artist providing a stable perch for the idea of peace to take hold.