Stuart Bailey
Contemporary re-imaginings of the work of Gustave Klutsis address political melancholy and retreat
After Gustav Klutsis           
Knulp Gallery
28/5 - 14/6 2021
Photos by alexgawronski.com

Proposed poster for Faceless Burial release Speciation after Gustav Klutsis, 2021, digital print Public structure after Gustav Klutsis Design for Loudspeaker Number 5, 2021 speaker, wood, paint and mixed media Proposed poster for Contaminated gig with Girth and Maggot Cave, after Gustav Klutsis, 2021, digital print Public structure after Gustav Klutsis Design for Loudspeaker Number 5, 2021 speaker, wood, paint and mixed media After Gustav Klutsis, installation view Proposed poster for Damaged release Passive Backseat Demon Engines after Gustav Klutsis, 2021 digital print After Gustav Klutsis, installation view


Digital prints and sculpture create idiosyncratic narratives that meld the near-utopian imagery of revolutionary Russia with contemporary political and subcultural signifiers. Klutsis’ kiosk, designed to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the Revolution, is re-imagined as a neglected piece of public sculpture. It’s purpose has been forgotten, it is plagued by graffiti, and it plays right-wing talkback radio through its speaker. In a similar vein the artists agitprop posters have been re-designed in the subcultural style of Death Metal and Grindcore music. The original avant-garde design aimed at the masses now in the service of an impassioned yet entrenched esoteric subculture.


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