4.3 KILOMETRES TO UTOPIA JUNCTION
TEN CENTURIES OF RUSSIAN ART: 20TH CENTURY IN FOCUS

12th - 26th March 2013

“What is Utopia? It is a question that will be answered differently by each individual person you ask. The literal translation in Greek is “non-place”; this is because a perfect haven like Utopia is unreachable. For the Russian constructivists, Utopia was the foundation upon which the ideology of the movement was born; it was the reason why their creativity was driven.” (Trishna Rehan, artist)

Students of Lambeth College (Art BTEC, National Diploma Level Three) have been visiting Pushkin House for a series of lectures and workshops on Russian art. They were learning about history of Russian art: from Russian icons, the Russian avant-garde and Utopia to the development of Russian constructivism, design, photography, architecture and contemporary art. The lectures were designed to link with the City Project that the students had been working on in class as part of their Unit Five contextual studies. This project was targeted to sit well in the student's personal statements for job applications and progression to university.

The students were encouraged to design posters and a logo for Pushkin House and create works on Utopian themes that inspired the artists of Russian constructivism. Working on the project for nine months, the young artists created an impressive body of works. The best of the works is presented at the exhibition 4.3 Kilometres to Utopia Junction.

Artists: Gloria Poiqui, Joe Calcott, Lua Dornelles, Farrah Gray, Daniel Kwoka, Godfrey Musoke, Tiago de Melo, Trishna Rehan, Vesta Rudnickaite, Isis Sedou, Lauren Taylor, James Webster, Lana Wheeler.