Club of Friends at Calvert 22

Georgiy Guryanov, Evgeniy Kozlov and Timur Novikov in Evgeniy Kozlov’s flat, Galaxy Gallery, 1987

Calvert 22 Gallery presents the first UK exhibition of two Russian underground movements started by the visionary artist Timur Novikov.

In the early 1980s, during the last decade of the Soviet regime, the New Artists Group was founded and began making their wild paintings influenced by German Expressionism, Pop Art and Primitivism. First operating out of a communal flat and then an old apartment, they held a series of influential exhibitions, gigs, screenings and parties.

Club of Friends showcases the work and life of an extraordinary generation of figures whose experiments in art, collective creative practice and sexual representation remain groundbreaking to this day.

Works on display include textiles, film, paintings, graphics, costumes and music from extraordinary video works such as Ventslova’s highly kitsch Mireille (1995) to Timur Novikov’s flag-like fabric pieces.

Coming to the UK for the first time, this exhibition maps the untold story of Russia in the 1980s and 1990s, showcasing two important movements that changed the face of contemporary art in Russia today.

The exhibition is organised in collaboration with the Moscow Museum of Modern Art.

Club of Friends is at Calvert 22, 22 Calvert Avenue, E2 7JP until 25 May.