EXHIBITION: ART ACTION - Pussy Riot Reception

ART ACTION - Pussy Riot: Nadya Tolokonnikova
Reception: Thurs., Oct. 10, 4-7 pm
Conversation: Thurs., Oct. 10, 5:30-6:30 pm
Duration: Sept. 30- Oct. 25, 2024
Location: Turman Gallery (Fine Arts Building)
649 Chestnut Street, Terre Haute, IN 47809
Hours: M-F 11 am-4 pm, open until 6 pm on Thursdays
All exhibitions are free and open to the public. This means family and friends are welcome.:)
Artists: Nadya Tolokonnikova
Courtesy of: Container, containertc.org, Turner Carroll Gallery, turnercarrollgallery.com
Sponsored by: Indiana State University’s Office of Multicultural Services and Programs
Curated by: Tanmaya Bingham

About:
Nadya Tolokonnikova, the creator of Pussy Riot, the Russian feminist protest art collective, has been spearheading global feminist art movements since 2011. This exhibition, ART ACTION (September 30- October 25, 2024, Indiana State University), provides a survey of Pussy Riot’s selected actions with an aim to educate and show diverse perspectives on sociopolitical issues affecting women. Inspired by the American feminist collective Guerilla Girls, Pussy Riot has conducted hundreds of actions to date.

Tolokonnikova considers herself a conceptual performance artist and her multimedia works are limitless in artistic expression and approaches ranging from music to the visual arts. The chosen mode of artistic communication for each action is dictated by what she believes will garner the greatest impact to voice her message. In one of many revolts against Putin, her Russian action Putin has Pissed Himself (January 20, 2012, Lobnoye Mesto on Red Square, Moscow), she and other Pussy Riot members performed in brightly colored clothes and balaclavas shouting the song "Putin Has Pissed Himself" accompanied by electric guitars. In What if Women Ruled the World (WIP), (23 May - 1 September 2024, Serpentine North, London, UK), a collaboration with feminist artist Judy Chicago, her ‘...queen and mother...,’ (Instagram: @pussyriot, July 7, 2024) they showcase interactive digital quilts.

This diversity of medium testifies that the Performance is the Art. Her work has been exhibited internationally in MoMA PS1 (Queens, NY) to Sotheby’s Gallery (New York, NY), The Museum of Contemporary Art (Oslo, Norway), OK Linz Museum (Linz, Austria), [CONTAINER] (Santa Fe), Deitch Projects (Los Angeles), and Saatchi Gallery (London, UK). Her works are included in the permanent collections at the Brooklyn Museum (NY) and many others in the United States and Europe.

ART ACTION, is a vehicle for human rights, presenting works from various locations and time periods. Tolokonnikova continues to insert herself into perilous situations to fight for her beliefs. Her actions have instigated more than 70 arrests by Russian police, a sentence of two years in a Russian jail and a Siberian penal colony (2012-14), and being added to Russia’s Most Wanted list (2023). Tolokonnikova’s courageous and vehement actions remind us that art has the power to raise awareness and provoke change.