Broken Hammer and Sickle
Maker
Leonid Petrovich Sokov
Date1990
MediumWood
Dimensions9 in x 12 in x 13 in
ClassificationsVISUAL WORKS
Credit LineGift of Yury and Nelly Traisman and the Kohler Foundation, Inc.
Object number2015.04.012
DescriptionLeonid Sokov is associated with Sots Art movement. Sots Art was a notable development in Moscow’s unofficial art scene of the 1970s. Somewhat similar to American Pop Art, Sots-artists playfully used, or rather misused, Soviet ideological codes, transforming them from fearsome symbols of power to amusing playthings. Sokov created a series of imaginative sculptures in his recognizable rustic and rough-hewn style. In his works, he appropriates ideological icons of Communism to break up their seeming solidity. His Broken Hammer and Sickle can be manipulated –opened and closed – by turning the handle on the side. Born in the Tver region, Leonid Sokov studied at some of Russia’s best art schools: Moscow Secondary Arts School, majoring in sculpture, and Moscow College of Art and Design, now the Stroganov Academy. He immigrated to the US in 1980 and settled in New York.
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