„The Brotherhood of New Blockheads (1996-2002)“,
curated by Daniel Baumann
3 MAY until 28 JUN 2025
Opening – 2 MAY 2025, 6-9 pm
ME MYSELF / CENTRAL RUSSIAN
ELEVATED STUPIDITY PROJECT
Performance
Exhibition: “The Brotherhood of New Blockheads and Photographic Art”
“Anatomy of Contemporary Art in Saint Petersburg” Art Festival
Art-kollegiya Gallery, Saint Petersburg
19–20 March 1998
Artist: Oleg Khvostov
Photo: Alexander Lyashko
The Brotherhood of New Blockheads was a performance group in St. Petersburg active between 1996 and 2002. Almost unknown in the West (and also in Russia), their art remains largely a mystery to be discovered.
The New Blockheads consisted of Vadim Flyagin, Igor Panin, Sergey Spirikhin, Inga Nagel, Vladimir Kozin, Maxim Rayskin, Oleg Khvostov and Alexander Lyashko and in just five years, they staged over 100 performances. Full of absurdity, poetry and humor, these seemingly useless performances reflected their time and the disintegrating Soviet Union. Art didn’t matter back then, and that was precisely its significance.
ON LITEYNY
Situational performance
Liteyny Prospekt 52, Saint Petersburg
Evening, 29 June 1996
Artist: Igor Panin
Photo: Alexander Lyashko
FRIED EGGS
Street performance
Liteyny Prospekt, Saint Petersburg
23 May 1998
Artist: Sergey Spirikhin
Photo: Alexander Lyashko
The exhibition at BQ in Berlin is the first in Germany to show a selection of around 25 artworks and performances.
The exhibition is curated by Daniel Baumann (Director Kunsthalle Zürich 2015-2025) with the support of Peter Belyi (artist and curator, St. Petersburg).