Someone recently put it very well: whether you like it or not, Pavlensky, Pussy Riot, and the Voina group are the very forefront of contemporary Russian art, recognized and acknowledged around the world.
Of course, every time someone says this, 25 people come running to declare that art means Repin, while a scrotum nailed to Red Square or plain vandalism is not art.
Well, Mayakovsky’s yellow blouse drew nothing but smirks too, not to mention the black squares. The contribution of that very Russian world to 20th-century art is enormous, but while today we proudly showcase these works at Olympic opening ceremonies, in their own time they were the creations of persecuted outsiders.
It is quite possible that one day Pavlensky—who turned not only the burning of the FSB’s door, but also the arrest and trial that followed, into an art action—will also be featured before the Olympics, with people saying: now that is what I call art, not the trash they make today—ugh.
And the value of the smoke-blackened door, which, according to the court ruling, is determined by the fact that behind it were held “outstanding cultural figures,” will increase many times over, because it is now that very door. The door.
What I mean is that today we can and should celebrate not only Pavlensky’s release from pre-trial detention (hurray!), but also a victory for contemporary Russian art. As before, far from all of its contemporaries accept it, but it exists, it is alive, it is influential, and it is something to be proud of.