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Maker: Aleksei Rezaev

We Were not Born Yesterday

Date Made: 1991
Country: Soviet Union

Measurements: 71 cm x 101 cm; 27 15/16 in x 39 3/4 in

Description

The poster depicts a traditional Russian matryoshka doll holding a flower, drawn on a pink background with multicolored hearts strewn diagonally across the background culminating in the righthand corner above her head. However, instead of the inside of the doll being filled with smaller and smaller versions of the girl, the painted wooden upper half of her torso ends to reveal human legs wearing pink drawers, garters, fishnet stockings, and black high heeled shoes. The sexualized rendition of a traditional Russian children’s doll, with the title of the work “We were not born yesterday,” speaks to the turbulent changes occurring in Russia in 1991 with Gorbachev’s policy of openness (glasnost); the matryoshka doll is opened, but what is exposed is far removed from the traditional depiction of this classic Russian toy.

Accession Number: 2009.053.043

Item Name: Painting
Credit Line: The Ferris Russian Collection, Donated by Tom and Jeri Ferris
Collection/Series: The Ferris Russian Collection, Donated by Tom and Jeri Ferris
Exhibition History

• Crumbling Empire

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