October 2, 2006

Smith Gallery opens season with two shows

The Smith Gallery has opened its 2006-07 exhibition season with "A Shout in the Street: Early Soviet Posters." Also on exhibit in the Smith's Annex Gallery is "Victory Over the Sun: El Lissitzky's Graphic Portfolio."

The exhibitions are free and open to the public. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The gallery is wheelchair accessible.

"A Shout in the Street" presents a spectrum of bold,
beautifully designed posters, from revolutionary to
educational, and ranging in style from cartoonish to
abstract, constructivist, and avant-garde. Posters were a key art form in the Soviet idea of a mass, socialistic art, and the Russian Revolution of 1917 was a major event for artists.

"Victory Over the Sun" was a scandalous show when it was presented in 1913 in St. Petersburg.
Following the Russian Revolution, in 1923, artist and architect El Lissitzky designed a series of lithographs for a so-called "electro-mechanical" staging of the opera. The Smith Gallery is displaying
the full series of El Lissitzky's graphic portfolio of
"Victory Over the Sun," along with some selected materials from last year's live staging of the play.