Igor Sinyavin

Igor Sinyavin (Russian: Игорь Синявин; October 10, 1937 – February 15, 2000) was a Soviet Nonconformist painter. His artistic and written work provides insight into Soviet censorship and struggle for artistic independence.

Early life and education Igor Sinyavin (1937-2000) was born in the village of Sinyavino in the Leningrad region of Russia. He studied at the Military Topographic College, the Leningrad State University, later at the Faculty of History at the Department of Art History, but did not graduate.

He presented his art at the Bulldozer Exhibition (September 15, 1974), an unofficial exhibition that ended with several arrests and the destruction of the participants' art.

Since the Bulldozer Exhibition aroused international news coverage and strong public disapproval, and Soviet authorities reluctantly agreed to allow two nonconformist exhibitions. Becoming a prominent member of the Soviet non-conformist art scene, he was on the organizing committee and presented his works in the first Soviet permitted non-conformist exhibitions in the Izmailovsky Park in Moscow (September 29, 1974) and in Leningrad (December 22–25, 1974). During the Leningrad exhibit, Sinyavin presented a blank canvas and invited visitors to sign their names with a marker.

Emigration to the United States In May 1976, Sinyavin exhibited his works in an unauthorized open-air exhibition and was detained and put under house arrest. The KGB pressured Sinyavin to emigrate in 1976, and he left for Vienna on his way to New York, United States. Like most immigrants emigrating from the Soviet Union, he was given an exit visa listing Israel as his destination. He returned to the USSR in 1986.

Style Sinyavin was a constructive abstractionist. While the Soviet Union only permitted art that pertained Socialist Realism and glorified communist values, his art focused on geometric shapes and patterns. In his memoir, Glas (Russian: Глас), he describes his modernist style "as a force capable of liberating a person and creating a new world of excellence" and one that "brings chaos from the bowels of the subconscious mind."

Authorship Sinyavin contributed to several political magazines, wrote multiple articles, and published two books. In early 1976, he wrote the almanac "Petersburg Meetings" (Russian: "Петербургские Встречи") for the underground magazine Samizdat, in which he criticized the practices and policies of the Soviet Union. He also wrote the article "To the Creator" (Russian: "Человеку творя­щему") for Samizdat.

Sinyavin was a member of the editorial board for the magazine "Time Measure" (Russian: "Мера времени") along with Yu. Voznesenskaya, G. Trifonov, and V. Filimonov. He wrote poems and created graphics for the magazine. The KGB disrupted its release.

In 1984, the newspaper Leningradskaya Pravda published his "Letter from There", in which he illustrated and criticized the American way of life and condemned the idea of emigration. After this article was written, Sinyavin came to the USSR and appeared on Soviet press and television.

Books

Glas (Russian: Глас) (1991) The Path of Truth (Russian: Стези Правды) (1996)