Leonid Sokov 11.10.1941

When classifying Russian art of the 1970s-90s, Leonid Sokov is usually included in the socialist art section, although he obviously does not belong there, which, by the way, only confirms that there is some inaccuracy in such generalizations. True, it happens that in his works Sokov uses Soviet symbols and formal techniques, but for him they are always the environment, the back drop, never the main theme. They are objects of ridicule and/or destruction.

The Soviet for Sokov is just a fertile upper layer, while the main roots of his creative work extend deeper. Sokov relies on the cultural underground, the world of folklore, popular cheap print, a roughly carved wooden toy. His objects – small domestic objects (a herring, sandwich, matches), enlarged many times in wood, or a two-meter wooden Kalashnikov – are neither an imitation of Oldenburg, nor a criticism of a consumer society, nor even nostalgia for the Soviet communal world. Sokov’s things are more reminiscent of ancient idols and totems, and Sokov himself is evidently more than any social art. For that matter one could even invent a special section for him, for example, Sok Art.