Queer(ing) Russian Art: Realism, Revolution, Performance(Myths and Taboos in Slavic Cultures)

While the topic of queer sexuality in imperial Russia and the Soviet Union has been investigated for decades by scholars working in the fields of sociology, history, literary studies, and musicology, it has yet to be studied in any comprehensive or systematic way by those working in the visual arts. Queer(ing) Russian Art: Realism, Revolution, Performance is meant to address this lacuna by providing a platform for new scholarship that connects "Russian" art with queerness in a variety of ways. Situated at the intersection of Visual Studies and Queer Studies and working from different theoretical and disciplinary perspectives, the contributors expose and explore the queer imagery and sensibilities in works of visual art produced in pre-Soviet, Soviet and post-Soviet contexts and beneath the surface of conventional histories of Russian and Soviet art.

About the Author :
Brian James Baer is Professor of Russian and Translation Studies at Kent State University. Founding editor of the journal Translation and Interpreting Studies and co-editor of the Bloomsbury book series "Literatures, Cultures, Translation," his publications include the monographs Other Russias: Homosexuality and the Crisis of Post-Soviet Identity and Queer Theory and Translation Studies: Language, Politics, Desire, as well as the collected volumes Translation in Russian Contexts, with Susanna Witt, and Queering Translation, Translating the Queer, with Klaus Kaindl. Yevgeniy Fiks is a Moscow-born New York-based artist, author, and organizer of art exhibitions. Yevgeniy has produced many projects on the subject of the Post-Soviet dialog in the West. Fiks' books include Moscow (Ugly Duckling Presse, 2013), Soviet Moscow's Yiddish-Gay Dictionary (Cicada Press, 2016), and Mother Tongue (Pleshka Presse, 2018).

Review :
"In this impressive, wide-ranging volume, Brian Baer and Yevgeniy Fiks aim not only to take the initial steps in creating 'a history of queer Russian art and artists', but also to imagine 'queer interventions in art histories' (p. 18). [T]he volume is groundbreaking for Russian queer studies, particularly in its methodological sophistication and openness, which will undoubtedly inspire further work."-- Connor Doak, Australian Slavonic and East European Studies "Everywhere and throughout history queerness is a political act, yet missing narratives remain. That is why the comprehensive survey of queer Russian cultural practice mapped in these pages is so revelatory. The scholarly investigations contained herein are as capacious as the land-mass they mean to situate, and they are indispensable to any contemporary understanding of our accelerating international cultural and political dilemmas. Perhaps more importantly, you will be treated to probative examinations of the consequential disposition of current Russian queer cultural production, which shed light on the bold, resourceful, and inventive radicalism they represent. This book is essential reading for anyone concerned with twenty-first century meaning-making." -- Avram Finkelstein, founding member of the Silence=Death collective [OR Avram Finkelstein, artist, writer, activist] "Yevgeniy Fiks and Brian James Baer have put together a truly important, timely collection that offers a broad and engaging view of queerness in Russian art. The scholarly chapters focus on well-known artists (Somov, Eisenstein, Deineka, the Moscow conceptualists, the New Academy...) and yet invariably surprise: the volume's contributors show us new ways to understand familiar images and topics. The inclusion of works of conceptual art and interviews with contemporary artists in the final section makes the volume even livelier and stronger." -- Emily D. Johnson, Brian and Sandra O'Brien Presidential Professor of Russian, University of Oklahoma