On March 16, 1984, The Kitchen presented Art Belongs to the People, a painting-in-performance by Soviet émigré artists Vitaly Komar and Aleksandr Melamid. With their backs to the audience and facing the canvas attached to the wall, Komar and Melamid instructed four Russian individuals untrained in the arts to paint an event in contemporary American history using a “carrot-and-stick approach.” In between the instructions, they lectured on history, ideology, and aesthetics, interpreting the fundamental principles of contemporary spiritual self-expression.

 

15 x 20 inches

 

Proceeds from the sale of this poster will support artists whose groundbreaking, genre-defying work appears at The Kitchen throughout the upcoming season.