Utopia Ltd

Over in Little Portland Street in central London, a new show of Russian design and art is opening, showcasing some incredible Soviet avant-garde artworks, and others that have been reconstructed for today’s audiences.

 For the Utopia Ltd exhibition to be held at GRAD gallery, model maker Henry Milner has created some beautiful, frequently esoteric sculptural pieces informed by the geometric experiments of Soviet artists including El Lissitzky, Gustavs Klucis and Aleksandr Rodchenko.

He will also be presenting his reworkings of designs by Vladimir Tatlin, including this beautiful avian creation, Letalin:

The fragile flying machine is inspired by the anatomy of seabirds, but forged together through the lens of Russian Constructivism. According to the gallery, the piece ‘[epitomises] the figure of the Soviet artist-as-engineer.’

GRAD gallery says, ‘Where the Constructivists advocated for collaboration and momentum in their work, Milner accepts their open invitation to continue and experiment with forms and materials’.

Alongside the reconstructions, a series of works by Gustavs Klucis, ‘the youngest of the Constructivists’, according to the gallery, will be on show.

These pieces exemplify the traits of Soviet Modernism, looking to utilise design and public artwork to push the Communist agenda.

Prints, documentary film and photography from the period will also be on show, aiming to create an overview of the artistic side of the revolution and its visual culture.

Utopia Ltd runs from 21 September – 20 December at GRAD: Gallery for Russian Arts and Design, 3-4a Little Portland Street, London W1W