Benefit Art Exhibition in Support of Pussy Riot
Monday September 10, 6 - 10 pm
Lombard Freid Gallery
518 West 19th Street
New York, New York 10011
Tel 212.967.8040
Fax 212.967.0669
info@lombard-freid.com

Amnesty International, FreePussyRiot.org, The Voice Project and Lombard Freid Gallery are pleased to announce a one-night benefit exhibition on Monday, September 10, 2012 from 6-10 PM at Lombard Freid Gallery (518 West 19th St., NY).

Tickets are $50 per person and can be purchased in advance at http://guestli.st/119883 or at the door. Capacity is limited! All proceeds will go to assisting families of the imprisoned members of Pussy Riot.

The exhibition will feature five original performance video works of Pussy Riot. There will be speakers representing the Art & Culture Scene who will share statements and an opportunity for attendees to go online on Amnesty International provided laptops during the evening.

Confirmed speakers include Martha Wilson, Vitaly Komar, Alex Goldfarb, Josefina Ayerza, Suzanne Nossel, DJ Spooky and more to come.

Drinks and light refreshments will be served.

From Bloomberg News:

The three Pussy Riot members who were sentenced to two years in prison last week will become the centerpiece of a Sept. 10 pop-up exhibition and fundraiser in New York backed by Amnesty International.

Five videos of the group -- which comprises not only those arrested but other performance artists -- will be shown at Lombard-Freid Projects in Chelsea in a show called “Pussy Riot.”

Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, Ekaterina Samutsevich, 30, and Maria Alekhina, 24, were convicted of inciting religious hatred and hooliganism with their Feb. 21 “punk prayer,” “Holy Mother, Blessed Virgin, Drive Putin Away.” In that action, five women (two weren’t brought to trial) in neon tights and balaclavas danced by the altar of Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Savior. Tolokonnikova and Alekhina have young children.

“This is not about raising awareness or protesting anymore,” said Lea Freid, a partner at Lombard-Freid. “This is about raising money for the women, their families and defense.”

The trial sparked international protests. Supporters of the trio have included Paul McCartney, Sting and Madonna. On the eve of the verdict, actress Chloe Sevigny joined other performers to read translations of the women’s writings in a packed basement of Manhattan’s hip Ace Hotel.

Lombard-Freid has partnered with Amnesty International for the show and fundraiser. The nonprofit organization attempted to deliver a petition with 70,000 signatures calling for the women’s release to the Russian Embassy in Washington on Aug. 14. An embassy official dumped the papers on the sidewalk.

“We consider Pussy Riot prisoners of conscience and continue calling for their immediate and unconditional release,” said Ilona Kelly, interim director of the individuals-at-risk program at Amnesty International of the USA Inc. “We are very excited about the exhibition.”

The idea for the exhibition originated with Victoria Dushkina, 28, the general manager of Moscow’s Gary Tatintsian gallery, who said she came to New York two weeks ago hoping to organize a show of the art collective’s work. The project is unrelated to her work at the gallery, she said.

“I want to support them,” Dushkina said. “I share their spirit of opposition. I feel like I could have participated in one of their performances. I could have been in their place.” In their performance art, the collective tends to pursue actions that are unauthorized.

Dushkina got no response from the major Moscow galleries she approached with her campaign. “People are afraid,” she said. “I decided to come to New York because here no one is afraid.”

The five video performances to be screened at Lombard-Freid show the women -- in groups ranging from three to eight -- spouting out slogans such as “Feminist whip is good for Russia!” and “Death to prisons, freedom to protests!” -- to deafening electric-guitar accompaniment.

“The videos will be looped non-stop,” Dushkina said. “I’d like to create the atmosphere of absurdity and hysteria that characterized the Pussy Riot trial.”

On Sept. 7, New York rock bands, including Black Lolita and Interzona, will play at a benefit concert in support of Pussy Riot. The event will take place at Saint Vitus Bar in Brooklyn and raise money for the three women’s families and lawyers.