Alexander Kosolapov (Александр Косолапов, born 1943, Moscow) is a founding figure of Sots Art, the Soviet answer to Pop Art that recycled state iconography with deadpan irony. He trained at the Stroganov Institute in Moscow and emigrated to New York in 1975.
Lenin and Coca-Cola
Kosolapov’s work sets socialist and capitalist symbols on the same footing. His best-known image, Lenin–Coca-Cola (1980), was displayed as a Times Square billboard in 1982; later works such as Malevich Sold Here (1989) and Mickey Lenin (2003) extend the same collision of ideology and advertising, and have drawn both acclaim and censorship disputes in Russia.
Notable works
- Lenin–Coca-Cola (1980)
- Malevich Sold Here (1989)
- Molotov Cocktail (1989)
- Mickey Lenin (2003)
His work is held by the Museum of Modern Art and the Guggenheim in New York, the State Russian Museum, and the Tretyakov Gallery.