Komar and Melamid
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Komar and Melamid (pronunciation: Kómar and Melamíd) is a tandem team of Russian-born American conceptualist artists Vitaly Komar (born 1943) and Alexander Melamid (born 1945). In an artists' statement they said that "even if only one of us creates some of the projects and works, we usually sign them together. We are not just an artist, we are a movement." Both artists were born in Moscow, but emigrated to Israel in 1977 and subsequently to New York in 1978. The pair's co-authorship of works ceased in 2003–2004.[1]
Education
Komar and Melamid attended the
History
Komar & Melamid's first joint exhibition, Retrospectivism, was held at the Blue Bird Cafe in Moscow, 1967. The following year, they joined the youth section of the
In 1976, Komar & Melamid's work became more widely known.
Throughout the 1970s, Komar & Melamid also worked in a style they called "Post-Art," pioneering the use of multi-stylistic images, prefiguring the eclectic combination of styles in
Melamid moved to
Ronald Feldman hosted the exhibition Sots Art in 1982, which was a commercial and critical success. In 1983, the Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art purchased paintings. From 1981 to 1983, they continued to develop Sots Art in the series Nostalgic Socialist Realism, and from 1984 to 1990 they further developed Post-Art in the Diary Series, Anarchistic Synthesis Series, and Bayonne, N.J. Series.
Throughout the 1980s, many prominent writers and critics discussed their work, and they were invited to participate in numerous exhibitions. They were the first Russian artists to receive funding from the National Endowment for the Arts. They were also the first Russian artists to be invited to Documenta (Kassel, then in West Germany, 1987).
Komar & Melamid created their first
In the early 1990s, Komar & Melamid created two icons for the Holy Rosary Church in Jersey City. In 1992, they began the series Monumental Propaganda, in response to the destruction of Socialist Realist monuments in Russia. At Komar & Melamid's invitation, more than 200 Russian and Western artists created projects for the preservation of monuments. Prolific press coverage of the project forestalled destruction of monuments in Russia.
From 1994 to 1997, the artists worked on the series People's Choice, whereby they created the "most wanted" and "least wanted" paintings of various countries based on the results of surveys conducted by professional polling companies. The book, Painting by Numbers: Komar & Melamid's Scientific Guide to Art, published in 1997, explains the statistical underpinnings of the polling process and provides the results of each country's preferences. Komar & Melamid used the same process in 1996–1997 in a collaboration with composer
In 1998,
In 1998, the artists also went to Thailand to teach elephants to paint, resulting in the book, When Elephants Paint: The Quest of Two Russian Artists to Save the Elephants of Thailand. In 2000, Christie's auction house held the first-ever auction of elephant paintings. The revenue generated supported the elephants and their keepers.
In 2001, Komar & Melamid began work on their last major project together, Symbols of the Big Bang, first exhibited at the Yeshiva University Museum, Center for Jewish History, New York. Using abstract symbols, the artists explored their spirituality and the connection between mysticism and science. In 2003, they began to turn some of the symbols into stained glass, which Russian authorities refused to exhibit during the Moscow portion of the exhibition, Berlin-Moscow/Moscow-Berlin (2004). Komar & Melamid ceased collaborating in 2003.[2]
In 2023, The group reunited for a retrospective at the Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers University[3]
Style
They are perhaps best known as the founders of
People's Choice
Komar and Melamid's People's Choice series, 1994–1997, consisted of the "most wanted" and "most unwanted" paintings of 11 countries,
Komar has said he isn't so concerned that people actually enjoy the work, so long as it provokes thoughts of free will versus predetermination. To tie that concept into their earlier work, Komar said, "In our early work, we arrived at [the] definition of freedom that entailed being free from individual cliches, being free to change intonations and styles. Individuality lost its stability and its uniqueness. Now we are searching for a new freedom. We have been traveling to different countries, engaging in dull negotiations with representatives of polling companies, raising money for further polls, receiving more of less [the] same results, and painting more or less [the] same blue landscapes. Looking for freedom, we found slavery."[5]
A musical version of The People's Choice was produced with composer
References
- ^ komarandmelamid.org
- ^ "Chronology".
- ^ "Soviet Pop Art Duo Reunites for First U.S. Retrospective Since Their Breakup". New York Times. 2023-04-26.
- ^ Wypijewski, JoAnn, ed. Painting by Numbers: Komar and Melamid's Scientific Guide to Art, New York: Farrar Straus Giroux, 1997.
- ^ Wypijewski, JoAnn, ed. Painting by Numbers: Komar and Melamid's Scientific Guide to Art, New York: Farrar Straus Giroux, 1997.
- Ratcliff, Carter. Komar and Melamid, New York: Abbeville Press, 1988. ISBN 0-89659-891-8
- Wypijewski, JoAnn, ed. Painting by Numbers: Komar and Melamid's Scientific Guide to Art, New York: Farrar Straus Giroux, 1997. ISBN 978-0374228804
- Komar and Melamid. When Elephants Paint: The Quest of Two Russian Artists to Save the Elephants of Thailand, New York: HarperCollins, 2000. ISBN 0-06-095352-7
- Nathanson, Melvyn, ed. Komar/Melamid: Two Soviet Dissident Artists, Southern Illinois University Press, 1979. ISBN 9780809308873
- Komar and Melamid The Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh, exhibition catalogue, 1985. ISBN 0-947912-20-7
- Weiss, Evelyn. Komar & Melamid: The Most Wanted and the Most Unwanted Painting, Museum Ludwig Koln, Ostfildern: Cantz, 1997.
- "Komar and Melamid" The Penguin Concise Dictionary of Art HistoryNancy Frazier (ed.) Penguin Reference, New York 2000 ISBN 0-670-10015-3.
- "Komar and Melamid" Art since the 40s by Jonathan Fineberg
- "Komar und Melamid" Bildende Kunst im 20 Jahrhundert Edward Lucie-Smith (ed.) Könemann in der Tandem Verlags-Gmbh 2002, ISBN 3-8290-1717-0.
- "Komar and Melamid (1945– )" Who's Who in American Art 23rd edition, 1999–2000. Marquis, New Providence, NJ;
- "Komar and Melamid" Contemporary Artists Fifth edition. Sara Pendergast and Tom Pendergastm (eds.) St. James Press, Detroit, 2002.
- "Komar and Melamid" The Prestel Dictionary of Art and Artists in the 20th Century Prestel Verlag, New York, 2000.
- "Komar and Melamid" World Artists, 1950–1980 Claude Marks (ed.) H.W. Wilson Co., New York, 1984.
- "Komar and Melamid" A Dictionary of Twentieth-Century Art Ian Chilvers (ed.) Oxford University Press, New York 1998 ISBN 0-19-280092-2.
External links
- Komar and Melamid Chronology and Images from 1972 to 2003
- Walker, John. "Komar & Melamid". Glossary of Art, Architecture & Design since 1945, 3rd. ed.
- The Most Wanted Paintings on the web
- The People's Choice Music
- Kolodzei Collection of Russian and Eastern European Art, Kolodzei Art Foundation
- Sloane Gallery of Art