March at the Purse Building:
Stories and Artifacts from the "Evil Empire"
an installation by Kelly Klaasmeyer
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Matryoshka Self Portrait
wood,color Xerox, acrylic
10 pieces from 9" to 3/4"
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Objects Sold by Babushkas,
St. Petersburg 1996
garlic, comb, soap, matches,
oven knob, toilet paper, wood
8" x 11" x 5"
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Hear Russian techno. See pictures and stories of the infrastructural breakdown of the Bolshoy Prospect apartment and the death-defying brush with the Russian medical system. View Soviet postcards, Russian informercial stills, vodka convenience packaging (pop-top cans), objects sold by babushkas (mostly oven knobs and brown soap), and 250 "pakets" - ubiquitous carry-everything plastic bags with images ranging from scantily clad buxom women to "Santa Barbara " TV stars to photos of 18-wheelers with "King of Road" printed across the top.
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Kelly Klaasmeyer is a Houston artist living in St. Petersburg, Russia and working as freelance art critic for the St. Petersburg Times. "Stories and Artifacts from the 'Evil Empire"' is a multi-media installation incorporating pop cultural elements from the former Soviet Union and the new Russia, combined with narratives of the artist's misadventures. The installation is a personal take on the comic, poignant and bizarre aspects of rampant nascent capitalism, imported pop culture, burgeoning local consumer culture and the ridiculous complexities of daily life for an American who speaks really bad Russian.
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Flowers for Lenin
approx. 100 Soviet-era acceptable
imagery postcards
30" x 22"
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The exhibition runs from March 1- 13, 1997. Closing reception Thursday, March 13, 6 - 8 pm
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