Radical Art Group Wins Russian Ministry Prize
by Ellen Barry
The New York Times
April 8, 2011
Moscow “” The radical art collective Voina has won a contemporary art award sponsored by Russia”s Ministry of Culture and the National Center for Contemporary Art for a project that consisted of a 210-foot penis painted on a drawbridge in St. Petersburg, said Andrei V. Yerofeyev, a member of the jury that awarded the prize.
Mr. Yerofeyev said most members of the seven-member jury were initially against awarding the prize to Voina, whose leaders are awaiting trial on hooliganism charges that could bring a sentence of up to seven years. But during deliberations, three advocates of the group persuaded the other four that Voina”s work had artistic merit, he said.
Among the arguments they put forward was that the penis had already gained such a wide audience via the Internet that ignoring it would also be making a statement.
“No one wanted to look like a conformist,” said Mr. Yerofeyev, a prominent intellectual who has long championed Voina, which means war. Continue reading “Voina’s Prize Winning Boner”