'Article Ten' Nadya from Pussy Riot
'Article Ten' Nadya from Pussy Riot
A portrait of Nadya from Pussy Riot created from Wordsworth's poem 'I Wandered Lonely As A Cloud'.
Please see below for more detailed text about this artwork.
A limited edition of 50 across 3 sizes. 22 sold. Please select below for size.
Each print individually signed and numbered, and beautifully printed on Hahnemuhle Etch 310gsm with hand torn edges.
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'Article Ten' is a contemporary reflection on freedom. It features a portrait of Nadya Tolokonnikova from Pussy Riot created from the redacted text of William Wordsworth’s famous poem ‘I Wandered Lonely As a Cloud’.
The text in this artwork - Wordsworth’s poem expressing a sense of freedom and joy elicited by his gazing at the beauty of nature - is symbolically redacted in places - reflecting issues of censorship, secrecy and oppression by various elements in power.
The use of Pussy Riot and their symbolic fight for human rights - and artistic freedom - as a subject in the artwork - is used as a metaphoric example of the regressive impact on human culture that occurs when brutes, bullies and barbarians are in power. Adding to this, the beautiful face of Nadya is also ‘covered-up’ by the ‘de-terrorised’ yellow balaclava - simultaneously ‘redacting’ beauty - but also visually alluding to the floral scenes in the poem.
The artwork is entitled ‘Article 10’ - a reference to the Geneva Convention For Human Rights.
The image of Nadya comes from an original photograph by Igor Mukhin. The composition echoes the early 20th century Russian Constructivist poster ‘Books’ by Aleksandr Rodchenko - more recently re-created by Mathew Cooper for Franz Ferdinand’s album ‘You Can Have It So Much Better’.
The stormy, semi-abstract painted sky - over which Wordsworth’s poem is written symbolizes the storm of controversy surrounding Pussy Riot’s challenge to Putin’s government and their subsequent incarceration. It also echoes the dramatic English Lake District scenery around which Wordsworth ‘wandered lonely as a cloud’.