In the years beginning with Russian and American détente leading up to Perestroika, a generation of Russian artists, writers, musicians, actors, and dancers were allowed to emigrate to America and began to gather in New York, creating a unique cultural community that first revolved around the publication “Novy Amerikanets” weekly (“The New American”). Its brightest luminaries included Sergei Dovlatov, Aleksander Genis, Boris Metter, Aleksey Orlov, Pyotr Vail and others. This exhibition will include rare artifacts and photographs by Nina Alovert, Lana Ford, Lev Poliakov, Mark Serman, Natalia Sharymova and others. It will also feature works of art by such pioneers as Vagrich Bakhchanyan, Vitaly Dlugy, Konstantin Khudyakov, Vitaly Komar, Aleksander Kosolapov, Alex Melamid, Ernst Neizvestny, Mihail Chemiakin, Oleg Tselkov among several others.
Image by Nina Alovert

The writer Erol Ozan once observed, “Dance is creating a sculpture that is visible only for a moment.” The famous photographer Nina Alovert’s photographs of ballet exemplify this idea. A survey of works by her from the 1950s to more recent years will open on June 13, 2016 at the National Arts Club. For over 60 years Nina Alovert has excelled at capturing the grace and gravity-defying movements of dancers from all over the world. “I try to capture the dancers at the moment when they are most emotional, expressive and beautiful” she says. This exhibition focuses on the legendary icons of Russian ballet: Galina Ulanova, Maya Plisetskaya, Andris Liepa, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Aleksander Godunov, Vladimir Vasiliev, Vladimir Malakhov, Diana Vishneva, Natalia Osipova, Irina Dvorovenko, Maxim Belotserkovsky, Nikolay Tsiskaridze and Natalia Makarova, among many others. Over 60 images will reveal Alovert’s ability to combine intimacy with other worldliness.
Image by Nina Alovert

Vagrich Bakhchanyan(1938-2009),a Ukrainian-born Armenian and prominent Russian writer and conceptual artist, immigrated to the United States in 1974 to continue his work in New York.

The range of Bakhchanyan's creativity extends from collages and installations to writing and poetry. His subjects reflect every aspect of life, and much of his artistry derives from his ability to transform ordinary objects and small details, turning the trivial into the monumental, and infusing the banal with witty and often trenchant commentary. Bakhchanyan breaks down reality, crossing the fine line of “normality”, twisting and daring our perception. His past work as a newspaper artist is manifest in the verve and vehemence of his art, as it elicits laughter from things many people hold sacred-- not out of disrespect, but to provoke the viewer to see them through a different frame of reference.

The exhibition “Vagrich Bakhchanyan: The Diary of a Non-Conformist” is drawn from the private collection of his widow Irene Bakhchanyan, and includes some works which have never been exhibitedpublicly before.