Simon Alexander
The Blue Noses is a Russian art collective founded in 1999 by Alexander (Sasha) Shaburov and Vyacheslav (Slava) Mizin. The duo is renowned for their irreverent, low-tech, and boldly satirical multimedia works that critique Russian society, politics, religion, and the art world. Through a mix of video art, performance, photography, and installation, their output is often humorous, absurd, and intentionally provocative. They describe their work as “art for pioneers and pensioners,” created with simple materials and a deliberate lack of sophistication to challenge elitist art standards.
Infobox: The Blue Noses
| Full Name | The Blue Noses Art Group |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1999 |
| Founders | Alexander Shaburov, Vyacheslav Mizin |
| Nationality | Russian |
| Known For | Video art, performance, photography, satire |
| Notable Works | Kitchen Suprematism, The Era of Mercy, Absolut Blue Noses |
| Movement | Postmodernism, Conceptual Art |
| Style | Experimental, Satirical, Provocative |
| Based In | Novosibirsk & Moscow, Russia |
Origins and Philosophy
The name “Blue Noses” emerged during the 1999 art performance Shelter Beyond The Time, held in a Cold War-era bomb shelter in Novosibirsk. This performative event was conceived as a parody of the “Y2K” panic, imagining a world plunged into technological chaos at the turn of the millennium. Participants, including Mizin and Shaburov, were deliberately cut off from the outside world—without access to clocks, phones, or alcohol—for three days.
Within this isolated environment, they produced a series of low-tech video sketches and absurd performances, embracing a deliberately crude aesthetic to critique the fetishization of technological advancement and the art world’s self-seriousness. As part of the act, they affixed blue plastic caps from water jugs to their noses, a tongue-in-cheek reference to clowns and fools, which became their emblem.
These early actions were documented in the video compilation “The Blue Noses Present: 11 Performances in a Bunker,” which gained underground acclaim and helped define their anarchic tone. The blue noses symbolized both the effects of cold weather and alcohol—common tropes in the Russian cultural imagination—blurring the line between jesters and visionaries. What began as an ironic performance evolved into a cohesive artistic identity.
Their breakthrough came through collaboration with the influential Marat Guelman Gallery in Moscow, a hub for Russian conceptual and political art. Despite initial reluctance to embrace the whimsical moniker “Blue Noses,” Shaburov and Mizin ultimately leaned into the name, turning it into a tool of subversion. They began to mimic and ridicule the mechanics of branding in the art world, fashioning themselves into a living art project that lampooned celebrity culture, consumerism, and institutional gatekeeping. This embrace of “brand parody” became integral to their strategy, allowing them to critique from within while evading easy classification.
Satire, Scandal, and Societal Mirror
The Blue Noses embrace the tradition of the Russian yurodivy (holy fools), using absurdity, satire, and grotesque humor to convey profound truths cloaked in farce. Their artistic approach frequently involves parodying political and religious authority, and drawing from iconography steeped in Russian history. One of their most notorious works, The Era of Mercy, reinterprets a sentimental Soviet-era image of policemen helping a civilian, transforming it into a homoerotic tableau that unsettles notions of masculinity, state power, and moral authority.
Their art has often provoked fierce backlash. In 2007, the Russian Minister of Culture, Alexander Sokolov, publicly denounced their work in the Sots Art exhibition at the State Tretyakov Gallery. The Minister labeled their pieces “pornographic” and a “national disgrace,” causing a diplomatic stir, especially since the exhibition was intended to travel to Paris. The controversy led to works being removed under governmental pressure.
This was not an isolated incident. Russian customs officials have repeatedly detained their artworks, sometimes without explanation, and several planned exhibitions have been either shut down prematurely or blocked entirely. Some of their videos have been flagged by conservative groups and Orthodox religious activists, adding to their reputation as provocateurs. In response, the Blue Noses often highlight the irony of censorship, claiming that attempts to suppress their work only validate their critique of authoritarianism and hypocrisy. They wear the unofficial title of “Russia’s most banned artists” as a badge of honor, underscoring their belief that truly democratic art must disturb, disrupt, and disobey.
Exhibitions and Influence
The Blue Noses have showcased their works internationally, including at the 50th and 51st Venice Biennales, and multiple Moscow Biennales of Contemporary Art. Notable solo exhibitions include:
- Video na kolenke (PERMM Museum, Perm, 2010)
- Proletarian Conceptualism (Marat Guelman Gallery, Moscow, 2009)
- Learning from Moscow (Municipal Gallery Dresden, Germany, 2007)
- Kitchen Suprematism (Moscow Photo Biennale, 2006)
Their collaborative projects often include contributions from fellow Siberian artists such as Konstantin Skotnikov, Dmitry Bulnigin, and the late Maxim Zonov. Each exhibition is a reflection on political dysfunction, the absurdity of contemporary life, and the contradictions within Russian identity.
Legacy and Cultural Commentary
The Blue Noses have carved out a unique space in post-Soviet art, straddling the line between slapstick and subversion. They’ve critiqued the sacred trinity of modern Russia—Kremlin, Church, and Art—by amplifying its contradictions. Their works reflect a society obsessed with spectacle, control, and illusion, often with the artists themselves playing clowns, fools, or martyrs.
More than just provocateurs, the Blue Noses provoke necessary conversations about freedom, truth, and artistic responsibility in authoritarian contexts. Their ongoing influence continues to shape both the Russian and global contemporary art scenes. Their provocative methods, often leaning into absurdity, continue to inspire a generation of politically engaged artists who see humor as a tool of resistance. Beyond Russia, their influence has permeated art institutions and biennales across Europe and the Americas, placing them among the most recognizable voices in post-Soviet critical art.
The Blue Noses’ art remains a living document of an era where irony, parody, and protest collide—an embodiment of resilience in the face of censorship and a reminder that laughter, even when grotesque, is often the sharpest critique. As new generations of artists grapple with authoritarianism, propaganda, and shrinking spaces for dissent, the legacy of the Blue Noses stands as both a blueprint and a beacon for disruptive creativity.
