“A - Z” is a journal of unofficial Russian art.
(A - YA) UNOFFICIAL RUSSIAN ART REVUE
Illegally prepared in the USSR and published in Paris from 1979 to 1986.
Editors: Alexander Sidorov (under the pseudonym "Alexey Alekseev") / Moscow,
Igor Shelkovsky / Paris.
Distribution in the USA: Alexander Kosolapov / New York.
60 pages, A4 format, circulation of 3000 copies. (first number is 7000). Color and black and white printing.
The informal journal “A - Z” made a splash in the cultural and artistic sphere of the Western countries in the 1980s. He discovered the whole world, hitherto unknown to the general public, contemporary Soviet and Russian contemporary art, which then reigned supreme for many years at the world's leading exhibition venues and auctions. It was in “A - Z” for the first time that the names of Eric Bulatov , Oleg Vasiliev , Ivan Chuikov , Igor Makarevich , Rimma and Valery Gerlovins , Francisco Infante , Ilya Kabakov , Komar & Melamid , Kopystyansky, Dmitry Alexandrovich Prigov , Konstantin Zvezdochotov , Alexander Kosolapov , sounded Sokov , Vagrich Bakhchanyan , Vladimir Sorokin , Vyacheslav Sysoev and many others.
Alexander Sidorov in Moscow clandestinely collected and edited materials for the magazine, and then secretly sent them to Igor Shelkovsky in Paris.
A total of 8 issues were released, which for many Western galleries and collectors have become real guides in the world of modern Soviet art.
In 1986, the magazine was discontinued due to fundamental changes in the political life of the country.
In 2004, a reprint edition of all issues of the magazine was issued in Moscow.
Sources
- A - I. Journal of unofficial Russian art. 1979-1986. Reprint edition. Ed. Igor Shelkovsky and Alexandra Obukhova. - M.: Art Chronicle, 2004