100
A wooden tomb sculpture lies on the ground holding a single candle on her chest. The phrase at the top is taken from a poem by the Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko entitled, “Hosea, Chapter XIV,” from 1859. Its first two lines are, “And thou shalt perish, Ukraina / Vanish, leave no trace on this earth.” The poet uses biblical motifs to express regret at the destruction of Ukraine at the hands of the tsars and other imperial powers. If the poster is turned vertical, the sculpture appears to be standing, pierced by the candle and overlooking a village with a dome, trees, and rolling hills. The painting seems to lament the fate of Ukraine and its lack of national sovereignty, two years before Ukraine declared its independence. Andrei Vishnevski and Yuri Panfilov, Leave No Trace on This Earth, 1989
101
A portrait of a woman is divided in two parts. On the left, she is modestly dressed, with hair curled in a traditional style, while her counterpart on the right has multicolored hair, wears a large earring, and has her right breast prominently exposed. The contrast between the two sides speaks to the dichotomy between different lifestyles in the same city, Leningrad, which was renamed St. Petersburg in September 1991.
Sergei Sukharev, St. Leningrad, 1991
102
A bare-breasted woman holding a Russian flag to her chest stares straight at the viewer, wearing a kokoshnik, a traditional headdress. The headdress is embroidered with the word “Russia,” and sheaves of wheat flank either side. In the background, a large globe indicates the contours of Russia. The painting from 1991 speaks to the fall of the Soviet Communist Party from power and the political independence of the Russian Federation. Rezaev hints at the loose morals that come with this transition. The Russian text on top is a line from the 1864 poem “The Railway” by Nikolai Nekrasov: “And a road with the might of her bosom will lay.” The poem was originally banned in Russia, for it spoke about the building of the St. Petersburg–Moscow railroad and the many workers who died during its rapid and forced development. Rezaev allows viewers to draw their own parallels between Russian politics in the 1800s and in 1991. Alexei Rezaev, And a Road With the Might of Her Bosom Will Lay, 1991
36