Socialist Surrealist Art

The less-than-burning question of the appropriateness of Soviet kitsch has been batted around more than once in these pages. Now a small Moscow company adds a new wrinkle. Kontakt-Kultura publishing house has achieved middling success selling USSR propaganda posters in Russia itself. Maybe you'd be interested in this timely flyer:

"A one-night stand may flash like lightning," warns one poster under a picture of a wilting pink rose, "but tomorrow, perhaps, there will be illness and hospital."

Comments

[Madog]

That's pretty neat. There's an artistic quality that shouldn't be over looked here, even if the regime that created them is morally unappealing.
I wouldn't mind getting my hands on some US propaganda from the Cold War or the two World Wars.

[Sandy]

Well, people still study Trimuph of the Will for its artistic value, though with I suspect a much more careful distinction between the artistic techniques and the subject matter. Leni still isn't Kitch.

[Jason Ligon]

Anyone ever see some of the cold war propaganda trailers they showed on MST 3k?

I recall great lines like, "We forge Justice!"

[nm156]

Jason, maybe it's just me, but in what context are they using the word "forge"? Hmmmmmmmm . . .