HOMAGE TO RODCHENKO (Bulgaria, 1989)

In the early days of the Soviet Union Alexandr Rodchenko was a prominent figure in the Russian avant-garde. His photo collages and unusual camera angles made him a pioneer in the field of photography. In the 1930s he fell from grace with the Soviet regime. His artistic experiments expressed Soviet ideals less clearly than socialist realism did. Rodchenko began to make more conventional work, such as photo books on party bosses. After his death it appeared that in the books he had blacked out the faces of victims of political purges. Usha Tsonkova took Rodchenko as her inspiration for a series of newspaper clippings and photo copies in which former Bulgarian party bosses have been rendered unrecognisable. The red and white elements suggest the idea of an obituary notice on a bulletin board. HOMAGE TO RODCHENKO critiques the communist system. Still, the series was not banned; because of its abstract nature, the message slipped past the regime.