The Question of 'State and Art' with regard to Soviet Socialist Realism

소련 사회주의 리얼리즘에 관하여: '국민과 예술'의 문제

The artworks of Socialist Realism of the former Soviet Union, with the beginning of the 21st century, are gaining a new attention from art collectors. One reason for this might consist in the fact that relevant art pieces exemplify the ways in which they visualize ideas on the basis of their high-profile art tradition and also in which they integrate their utopian ideals with mysticism. These aspects of the Soviet art goes far beyond the wide-spread assumption that their art, as a means of propaganda, principally represents a political allegiance to the system. With Stalin coming into power in the 1930s, the artistic trend of Socialist Realism obtained a nationwide sympathy and support from people, giving birth to a new art which essentially corresponded to the demands of the political power. An official art current of the USSR over the period from the 1930s to 1950s, Socialist Realism was in tandem with the Communist commitment to the party and popularity, symbolizing a loyalty to the cause. It was thus characterized by plainness and lucidity so that ordinary people could gain easy access to art. Its salient feature, over an entire range of art, was an optimistic pursuit of a utopian dream. Therefore, it tallied with the popular sentiment for a Communist paradise, giving form to their beliefs in human agency working at the materialist world and also to such abstract concepts as force, fitness, and beauty by adding even mythical ideals. Its main subject matter includes harvest feasts of collective farms, imaginary socialist cities, grand marches of heroic laborers and in this way it served as a propaganda for a sacred utopia of socialist totalitarianism. On the other end of the spectrum, however, rose the second camp of art, which put an emphasis on bona-fide artistic activities of plastic art and on an artist's personal expression and freedom, as opposed to the surface optimism of Socialist Realism. Central to the Russian Avant Garde art, which prized the above-mentioned values, were Malevich's Geometric Abstraction and A. Rodchenko's Constructivism. Furthermore, in the transitional era of the late 20th century and the 21st century it was recognized that film art or electronic media art, rather than traditional genre of paintings, would function as a more efficient way of propaganda. These new genres were made possible by ridiculing the stereotypes of the Russian lifestyle and also by ignoring ethical or professional dimensions of artworks. That is, they reinvented themselves into a sort of field art, seemingly degrading the quality of artworks and transforming them into artifacts or simulacres in the very sense of post-modernism. The advent of the new era brought about the formation and occupation of pop culture of the younger generations, calling into question the idea of art as the class-determined. It also increased the attention to field art, which extensively found way to modern art centers, galleries, and exhibition projects. It can be stated that this was a natural outcome of human nature.