Razors 

Valentin Khrushch made this work, "Razors," with paint and razor blades, though we don’t know exactly when. The serial imagery hints at the mass production of razor blades under industrial capitalism. Khrushch was part of a generation of artists who came of age in the Soviet Union. Some, so-called "unofficial artists," rejected state control and created their own nonconformist art. Born in 1943, Khrushch would have experienced the Thaw, a brief period of relative liberalization after the death of Stalin. His work appears to critique Soviet institutions and the material conditions of everyday life. The razor blades, all the same, may reference the homogenizing power of state ideology. The drips of paint, the lack of finish, the grid format – these may signify his aesthetic rebellion. As historians, we might examine Khrushch’s work in relation to the broader context of Soviet nonconformist art. We might consult exhibition catalogs, artists’ manifestos, and government archives. The meaning of art depends so much on its social and institutional context.