{"id":29898,"date":"2024-07-04T16:21:10","date_gmt":"2024-07-04T15:21:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/?p=29898"},"modified":"2026-01-14T23:40:52","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T23:40:52","slug":"vladimir-sorokin-in-london-an-exhibition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/en\/vladimir-sorokin-in-london-an-exhibition\/","title":{"rendered":"Vladimir Sorokin in London: An Exhibition"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Vladimir Sorokin \u00a9 Il Gurn<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Day of the Oprichnik<\/span><\/span>,<\/span><\/span><\/em> published in 2006, serves as a scathing satire on the<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/span>Russian authorities, <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>past and <\/span><\/span>still <\/span><\/span>present,<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/span>its prescience growing more poignant with each passing year<\/span><\/span>, as s<\/span><\/span>ome of the author<\/span><\/span>\u2019<\/span><\/span>s ideas<\/span><\/span> have<\/span><\/span> f<\/span><\/span>ound<\/span><\/span> embodiment, albeit distorted, in reality. Sorokin,<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/span>deeply<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/span>engrossed in myth-making, utilizes <\/span><\/span>it<\/span><\/span> as <\/span><\/span>the <\/span><\/span>foundation for his narratives, projecting the novel<\/span><\/span>\u2019<\/span><\/span>s <\/span><\/span>events in<\/span><\/span>to a <\/span><\/span>future steeped in the revival of imperial consciousness and the Russian elite<\/span><\/span>\u2019<\/span><\/span>s fixation on the past. The resulting retro-futurism <\/span><\/span>plot <\/span><\/span>crafts a dystopian world<\/span><\/span>\u2014<\/span><\/span>a claustrophobic and shadowy existence where escape is futile, darkness reigns supreme, and terror dictates life<\/span><\/span>\u2019<\/span><\/span>s rhythm.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Marat Guelman \u00a9 Il Gurn<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The exhibition expands Sorokin<\/span><\/span>\u2019<\/span><\/span>s thematic spectrum onto canvas<\/span><\/span>, <\/span><\/span>spanning <\/span><\/span>the <\/span><\/span>physiological to <\/span><\/span>the <\/span><\/span>cannibalistic, <\/span><\/span>the<\/span><\/span> grotesque to <\/span><\/span>the <\/span><\/span>monstrous. It invites spectators to encounter characters who seem to have leaped from the novel<\/span><\/span>\u2019<\/span><\/span>s pages: oprichniks reveling in their spoils, writhing from their relentless pursuits, <\/span><\/span>and <\/span><\/span>bonding in the steam of the bathhouse<\/span><\/span>\u2014<\/span><\/span>a ritual of \u201c<\/span><\/span><\/span>corporate spirit.<\/span><\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span> These portrayals are<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/span>rendered<\/span><\/span> \u201c<\/span><\/span><\/span>literally<\/span><\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span> from one narrative structure to another<\/span><\/span>\u2014<\/span><\/span>in the canon of any available text-to-image tools like DALL-E or Midjourney. The artworks,<\/span><\/span> g<\/span><\/span>lossy and profane, are all<\/span><\/span>\u2014<\/span><\/span>too much; the<\/span><\/span>ir<\/span><\/span> contrast is turned up to the limit in <\/span><\/span>scenes<\/span><\/span> where a traditional artist might have opted for restraint or woven a subtler allegory, thus granting the observer room for personal interpretation.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
AI \u00a9 Il Gurn<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In addition to AI-generated works, the exhibition features a <\/span><\/span>series<\/span><\/span> of Sorokin<\/span><\/span>\u2019<\/span><\/span>s authentic graphics, harking back to the Moscow conceptualist movement, particularly to Prigov: simple silhouettes composed of handwritten text, with words <\/span><\/span>like <\/span><\/span>\u2018<\/span><\/span>oprichnina<\/span><\/span>\u2019<\/span><\/span> or <\/span><\/span>\u2018<\/span><\/span>oprichnik<\/span><\/span>\u2019 <\/span><\/span>bisecting the <\/span><\/span>paper <\/span><\/span>into right<\/span><\/span> and <\/span><\/span>left, here <\/span><\/span>and <\/span><\/span>there, then<\/span><\/span> and <\/span><\/span>now. <\/span><\/span>D<\/span><\/span>uring the presentation <\/span><\/span>at <\/span><\/span>Shtager&Shch<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/span>Gallery<\/span><\/span>, t<\/span><\/span>he exhibition curator, Marat Guelman, repeatedly <\/span><\/span>emphasized<\/span><\/span> the evolving codifying role of the written word, suggesting that, when paired with AI, a writer<\/span><\/span>\u2019<\/span><\/span>s influence <\/span><\/span>could<\/span><\/span> engage recipient<\/span><\/span>\u2019<\/span><\/span>s imagination on multiple planes at once.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
AI \u00a9 Il Gurn<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The methodology of kitsch, characteristic of AI<\/span><\/span>\u2019<\/span><\/span>s present evolution, aptly aligns <\/span><\/span>with the <\/span><\/span>thematic essence of Sorokin<\/span><\/span>\u2019<\/span><\/span>s novel and the broader post<\/span><\/span>–<\/span><\/span>modernism<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/span>tradition<\/span><\/span> by<\/span><\/span> accentuating artificiality<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/span>to the point of discomfort. This somewhat<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/span>mirrors Sorokin<\/span><\/span>\u2019<\/span><\/span>s own creative ethos, where pushing boundaries<\/span><\/span> to the <\/span><\/span>extremes serve<\/span><\/span>s <\/span><\/span>to numb emotional response<\/span><\/span>,<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/span>much like <\/span><\/span>the waning impact of gore after a horror movie marathon. <\/span><\/span>The Day of the Oprichnik<\/span><\/span><\/em> exhibition introduces material relationships to abstract categories of fantasy, remaining a concentrate of the somber, a distorted mirror of reality, a nightmare that leaves one waking in a cold sweat. The novel<\/span><\/span>\u2019<\/span><\/span>s text has proven to be prophetic<\/span><\/span>, <\/span><\/span>draw<\/span><\/span>ing <\/span><\/span>parallels<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span>with<\/span><\/span> what has been happening in and to Russia in recent years, yet the immediate engagement with its artistic model leaves<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/span>one craving for the solace of fresh air<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/span>and the clarity of daylight.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\u00a9 Il Gurn<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Vladimir Sorokin\u2019s visit to London was primarily orchestrated for the unveiling of the Day of the Oprichnik exhibition at the Shtager&Shch Gallery. This event inspired by his eponymous novel, marks the second iteration of anexperiment in creating artworks using AI, where Sorokin assumes the role of a \u2018supervisor\u2019 in transposing words into visual images; it also echoes the tone of the Blue Lard exhibition, previously showcased in Berlin and New York through Marat Guelman\u2019s curatorial collaboration.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":107,"featured_media":30464,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[84],"tags":[],"type_post":[184],"column":[],"class_list":["post-29898","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-people"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29898","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/107"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29898"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29898\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60114,"href":"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29898\/revisions\/60114"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30464"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29898"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29898"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29898"},{"taxonomy":"type_post","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/type_post?post=29898"},{"taxonomy":"column","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/column?post=29898"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}