Reveal Your Illusions To Me 

Tania Rivilis painted "Reveal Your Illusions To Me" with oil on canvas. The work presents two dark-skinned men in a moment of apparent intimacy. Painted by a Russian artist, the picture prompts us to consider the politics of imagery across geopolitical divides. Note the brushwork, which bears some debt to Impressionism, a style that rose to prominence in late 19th-century France, in proximity to the rise of photography and mass media. What does it mean to engage with that tradition in post-Soviet Russia? Rivilis is interested in the way institutional structures shape perception and experience, and in the social conditions that shape artistic production. This is a key question for art historians. We examine historical documents, artists' writings, and criticism to understand the role of art in any society. By looking at those things we can better understand an artwork's relationship to broader social and political issues.