(E-E) Evgenij Kozlov • (E-E) Евгений Козлов

Fashion Show 1984

A legendary number of seven models gathered to act in front of Kozlov's camera. New Artists Oleg Kotelnikov, (E-E) Evgenij Kozlov, Yurii "Tsirkul" Krasev and Timur Novikov constituted the group of male models. Their friends Gasya Ordinova, Katya Selitskaya, Natasha "Dlinnaya" Nazarova (formerly Turik) acted as female models. Among them, Nazarova was the only professional model; at that time, shе worked for Leningrad Fashion House.

A total of 86 pictures from this performance are in Evgenij Kozlov's archive, relating to three different black and white negative films: AX (14 pictures), AY (37 pictures) and AZ (35 pictures). A number of vintage prints, including some of which the negatives were lost, still exist in Kozlov's collection as well as in private archive, for instance in Timur Novikov's Family Archive.

(E-E) Evgenij Kozlov
Vintage contact print 3001 from 1984 with strips from two films: AX (top and bottom) and AZ (centre). The print shows Kozlov's fingers fixing a glass pane to keep the negative strips pressed to the photo paper while it is exposed to light.

Concerning the project of reassembling filmstrips to their original sequence, see article Reconstructing E-E KOZLOV's photo archive from the 1980 more>>, in particular chapters 6 more>>, 7 more>>, and 8 more>>.

As described in an article form 2010, Kozlov's approach to photography went well beyond that of a photographic documentation:

Photography came to him as naturally as painting, and it is in a sense true that the camera had the same function for him as the sketchbook for the artists of the previous centuries: it helped him to preserve for future interpretation the moment that reveals the person’s inner being, which, in his opinion, is the very essence of art. He did not simply fix specific gestures, glances and postures that interested him, but also provoked them by his presence with the camera. And in those rare moments when he wished to appear in the picture himself, he used the self-timer or gave the camera to someone else. more>>

Contrary to traditional, "frozen" poses of models presenting fashion, the playful interaction between photographer and models led to expressive, vibrant scenes with unexpected turns, as in the picture with Selitskaya pointing with a gun to Nazarova who is lying on the floor.

E-E-pho-AZ74
(E-E) Evgenij Kozlov. Fashion Show 1984
Katya Selitskaya, Timur Novikov, Yury "Tsirkul" Krasev, Oleg Kotelnikov
On the floor: Natalia "Dlinnaya" Nazarova

Likewise, the clothes these models wear, whether casual, elegant, or extravagant, emphasise their own personality rather than that of a particular fashion designer. Their fashion, from tights to furcoats, may be considered as Soviet style streetwear rooted in counter-culture, only that these clothes were not worn in the streets of Leningrad, but at a private party. And this fashion style was definitely more elaborate than streetwear from the nineties influenced by hip-hop culture. Besides, starting around 1985 Kozlov and other New Artists created their own T-shirts, which they wore on different occasions.

(E-E) Evgenij Kozlov T-shirt "Napravlenie" from the series "B(L)ACK ART", front Mixed media on cotton, 1985 Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies Special Collection, Harvard University more >> E-E archival number: E-E-185030-f		(E-E) Evgenij Kozlov T-shirt "Napravlenie" from the series "B(L)ACK ART", reverse Mixed media on cotton, 1985 Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies Special Collection, Harvard University more >> E-E archival number: E-E-185030-r

Among his fellow artists, Evgenij Kozlov had a reputation of pursuing and developing his own distinct concept of aesthetics, of "stylishness". This is why his pictures are frequently reprinted in catalogues and in the press. Thus, in May 2010, the Russian edition of Rolling Stone printed Kozlov's picture with Timur Novikov and Oleg Kotelnikov in an article dedicated to Misha Buster's Exhibtion "Street Style-80”.

(E-E) Evgenij Kozlov. Timur Novikov and Oleg Kotelnikov.
E-E-pho- AZ33 from the Fashion Show series.
Rolling Stone, Russia, May 2010

Possibly, Kozlov staged the performance for his contribution to a planned 1984 “New Artists” magazine, where he was appointed director of the fashion section. Pictures from the performance appear on several collages he created for this magazine see New Artists magazine 1984 >>.

At the same time, Kozlov promoted, with the gathering, his LP cover for KINO's album "Nachalnik Kamchatki", released not long before. The album was actually sold on tapes, as a reel-to-reel album or magnitizdat more>>. Such tapes were an "underground" alternative to vinyl records releasd by Soviet monopolist Melodya, a state company working (primarily) with official bands. Since in 1984, KINO was not yet recognised oficially, and a vinyl record was out of reach. Kozlov, thinking about the future, nevertheless created a LP cover instead of a magnetizdat cover. It was presented by Katya Selitskaya, on a glass table next to her, with a "real" vinyl record inside more>>

In the fashion section of the “New Artists” magazine, Kozlov used his vintage prints for collages. But he also overpainted a number of prints, for instance in a diptych sent as mail art to the USA in 1986 (see top of page). Other painted prints became part of his untitled collage-triptych from 1984 which is now in the collection of the Russian Museum, Saint Petersburg. He recently titled this triptych "A Slice through Time. Dedicated to All".

(E-E) Evgenij Kozlov
A Slice through Time. Dedicated to All.
Right part of triptych-collage with painted vintage prints from the Fashion Show series
86.5 x 64.5 cm, 1984.
E-E-184006
Collection The State Russian Museum, Saint Petersburg
Photo: Hannelore Fobo, THE NEW ARE HERE!, Moscow Museum of Modern Art, 2021 more>>

Another technique Kozlov employed in this series was the so-called Sabbatier effect, also called pseudo-solarisation, or sometimes simply solarisation. It can be seen in the picture above with Katya Selitskaya presenting Kozlov's LP cover and in several pictures from A Slice through Time. Dedicated to All.

The Sabattier effect is a specific technique best known through the works of Man Ray and Lee Miller: after exposing the photo paper to light and developing it, it is exposed to light a second time, but now to diffuse light, without the negative. After that, the delvopment process is stopped ("fixation"). As a result, black tones and white tones appear reversed.

Display with (E-E) Evgenij Kozlov‘s works at the exhibition
Club of Friends • Timur Novikov's New Artists and the New Academy more>>
Left: Part six of the polyptich Good Evening Gustav, 1984, E-E 184003 more>>
Centre: Vintage print with Sabattier effect from the Fashion Show series more>>
Right: Poster of Perestroika in the Avant-Garde, Liverpool, 1989 with Kozlov's painting Star (1987) more>
Photo: Hannelore Fobo

Last but not least, one of the pictures, E-E-pho-AZ42 – with Katya Selitskaya, Yury “Tsirkul” Krasev, and Oleg Kotelnikov – inspired the artist to a work on paper from the series «The Flight of the Americans in Cosmos», 1986.

(E-E) Evgenij Kozlov. Fashion Show 1984
Katya Selitskaya, Yury “Tsirkul” Krasev, Oleg Kotelnikov,
E-E-pho-AZ42

(E-E) Evgenij Kozlov.
The Flight of the Americans in Cosmos
Gouache on paper, 42 x 59.5 cm, 1986
E-E-186021
Using the central motif of picture E-E-pho-AZ42,
Evgenij Kozlov created this work as part of the series «The Flight of the Americans in Cosmos»
more >>