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CLINTON - Like Joseph Stalin�s ghost, a collection of Soviet propaganda posters brings alive the specter of communist ideology in a fascinating exhibition at the Museum of Russian Icons.
Ranging from World War II through the Cold War, these 55 striking posters of Party chiefs and model factory workers, patriotic soldiers and capitalist exploiters create a parallel universe of Socialist iconography that provides a revealing contrast to the sublime religious icons that fill the Clinton museum.
At a time Russian nationalists meddle in Ukraine�s affairs, this show, "Darker Shades of Red,�� provides a chilling reminder of the power of cynical art to promote the "Big Lie�� of false promises to an uninformed citizenry.
Replacing the imagery of the Orthodox Christianity embraced by millions of Russians, Soviet propagandists represented Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin and Friedrich Engels as a new Holy Trinity in the equivalent of a state religion that promised a workers� paradise on Earth.
A visitor doesn�t need to read Russian to understand these posters� messages.
Two rock-jawed soldiers � one with binoculars, the other with a machine gun � guard the border from foreign invaders. While a brawny factory hand works at his lathe, the disheveled man beside him smokes an American cigarette instead of working. A mounted cowboy who looks vaguely like Ronald Regan uses a lasso with a dollar sign at its tip to rope a Russian dove of peace.
As drawn by Soviet artists, martyred soldiers, courageous women agitators and industrious farmers became the new saints of a secular faith that demanded blind obedience.
Kent dur Russell, the museum�s CEO and curator, said Soviet illustrators "co-opted the visual vocabulary of Russian Orthodox Christianity and inserted Soviet heroes and villains�� into mass-produced posters that sought to replace religious faith with unquestioning political belief.
He said Soviet propaganda posters fused two of the oldest traditions of Russian graphic art, the "lubok,�� an illustrated woodcut or print that combines images with text, and painted religious icons which were often based on folk tales and allegories.
Subtitled "Soviet Propaganda Art from the Cold War Era,�� the posters displayed in this exhibit are drawn from the private collection of Gary Hollingsworth, a Florida art restorer who has traveled extensively through the former Soviet Union.
As graphic art meant to convey easily digestible messages, Russian propaganda posters shared some elements with posters aimed at Americans during the Depression, World War II and even Hollywood movie advertisements.
They appeal directly to viewers� emotions by using familiar images to express simple messages whether it�s honor Comrade Stalin, "Loose Lips Sink Ships�� or watch Bogie and Bacall fall in love.
Museum Registrar Laura Garrity-Arquitt, who helped dur Russell hang the show, said the exhibit was organized thematically with posters grouped together according to their intended messages.
To be effective, she said propaganda posters combined a "powerful image�� with an "evocative message�� in clear language meant to inspire patriotism, support for the Party and encourage social responsibility.
While the posters carry Russian language slogans, English translations are printed beside them. And visitors can use a cell phone app to access an informative audio tour and additional images.
Garrity-Arquitt said illustrators incorporated familiar symbolic colors from icons into posters to infuse Soviet figures with positive connotations of veneration, authority and good will.
For example, images in icons of Jesus, the Virgin Mother and certain saints were often surrounded by red auras to suggest their sanctity. In the same way, a 1978 poster features Marx�s bearded visage, surrounded by a vivid red circle of flags beneath the slogan, "Proletariat of All Countries, Unite.��
While some might expect blatant anti-American propaganda to have cooled off after Stalin�s death in 1953, the space race and ongoing Cold War prompted renewed attacks on the U.S., often depicted as a top-hatted capitalist or a Reagan-esque cowboy. Posters from the 1980s routinely used obvious symbols to represent alleged American racism, exploitation of Middle Eastern oil and nuclear brinksmanship.
Museum founder Gordon B. Lankton, who built the museum which houses his personal collection of 700 icons, said the posters consistently "portray the U.S. and Americans in a bad light�� as a way promote Soviet achievements.
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