ASEEES 2011 - Presenter needed on Socialist Realism in the Arts

[Bettina Jungen]

Dear Colleagues, 

I invite you to participate in a panel with the working title "Tightrope Walk between Official and Personal Artistic Expression in the Socialist System" (abstract see below). One more presenter is needed. If you are interested in presenting on the complexities of artistic practice between Socialist Realism and other artistic concepts within the socialist system in any part of the USSR (preferred 1930s through 50s, but later periods and other socialist countries also considered), please respond off-list to bjungen at amherst.edu.

Preliminary abstract:
While it is still common to label Soviet artists exclusively either as working within Socialist Realism or as outsiders, many an artist led, even in the 1930s and 40s, a complex life reaching in both spheres. The panel investigates the nuances within the work and personalities of recognized artists, oscillating between the official canon and differing personal ideals. Questions include, but are not restricted to: How did artists define the boundaries between official and non-official according to their own ideals and tastes? By means of which strategies did they "survive" or realize their ideals within the system of Socialist Realism ? How did they position themselves? 

Thank you.

Bettina Jungen


Dr. Bettina Jungen
Curator of Russian Art
Mead Art Museum
Amherst College
Amherst, MA 01002-5000
+1.413.542.8561
www.amherst.edu/museums/mead



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