Soviet-era art at the Bruce

An exhibition scheduled to open Jan. 27 at the Bruce Museum in Greenwich looks at “Hot Art in a Cold War: Intersections of Art and Science in the Soviet Era.” Artifacts from the Soviet nuclear and space programs are brought together with examples of art designed to express opposition to the Soviet government”™s take on innovation and expression.

The works on view address themes of international significance during a turbulent period marked by the competition for nuclear supremacy and domination of space. Creative interpretations of this historical time and its repercussions are presented in nearly 40 works by 17 artists from the former Soviet republics of Estonia, Latvia, Ukraine and Russia. 

Artifacts include an unlaunched backup of Sputnik, which was the first man-made Earth satellite, a replica of the spacesuit worn by the space dog Laika and equipment from the Salyut space station program. The darker side of Cold War events is reflected in examples of nuclear fallout equipment and specimens from Chernobyl.

Daniel Ksepka, Bruce Museum curator of science and co-curator of the exhibition, said, “many of the scientific objects are works of art in their own right. The elegance of Sputnik, for example, is as striking and undeniable as its impact on the space race.” 

The exhibition will run through May 20.