YOU DID THIS? NO, YOU DID IT!

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2014
metal, welding, bronze

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"You did this? No, you did it!" – this was a phrase spoken by Picasso. It came in response to a question from a German general ("You did this?") with regard to his work "Guernica." The artist replied: "No, you did it!", meaning the German bombing of Guernica in 1937.
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The exposition itself comprises nine sculptures – the heads of renowned revolutionaries and consists of three groups.

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First group:
Karl Marx (founder), Friedrich Engels (follower), Mikhail Bakunin (opponent).

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Second group:

Lenin (founder), Stalin (a choice of follower or opponent), Trotsky (a choice of follower or opponent).

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Third group:

Mao Tse-Tung (founder), Ho Chi Min (follower), Che Guevara (opponent).

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This represents three revolutionary periods : the first comprises the revolutions of the 19th century, the second is the period of the Russian Revolution, the third is the period of the revolutions of the 1960s. All of the heads are presented on poles that are of the same thickness as Medieval spears — there was practice, back of then, of publicly presenting the severed heads of one′s enemies for purposes of intimidation.

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The modern artist is always being reproached for not being able to create a realistic image with his own hands. Indeed, he is accused of purely conceptual art. And so, the question “You did this?” is a question that is addressed to me as an artist. And the reply “No, you did it!” has in mind this barbaric demonstration of the severed heads of our former idols. And it is you, spectators, who decapitated them and put them on display for pubic ridicule.

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Anatoly Osmolovsky

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