Alexander Kosolapov's humorous and critical work, Molotov (1989)

AES+F's politically charged work Last Riot (2006), 150 cm. "Sots ART" - A Thematic Exhibition of Soviet and Russian Political Art from 1972 to the Present was exhibited at La Maison Rouge from October 21, 2007, to January 20, 2008. The notable event in the Paris art scene from the second half of last year to early this year was a special exhibition of contemporary Soviet and Russian art. This grand exhibition at Paris's "Red House" showcased Soviet and Russian political art from 1972 to the present, featuring 60 artists across three generations. It presented a comprehensive view of post-Pop political art emerging after the liberation from totalitarianism, inviting comparisons with the current trends of post-Pop political art in China. Both political situations and artistic trends offer analogous perspectives and insights for comparison and evidence.

This exhibition is founded on the art pioneered by two Moscow-based artists, Vitaly Komar and Alexandre Melamid, starting in 1972 with "Sots Art" (a portmanteau of art and socialism, styled after American Pop Art). Using humor, mockery, and satire, they critiqued the socialist regime. The special exhibition was planned around three aspects: appropriating official imagery, slogans, and propaganda, and altering them to become comical and absurd. This method relied on unusual uses of imagery, changing thematic backgrounds, and employing counter-propaganda motives. Finally, playful manipulation of the ornate rhetoric used by regimes to suppress individual freedom liberated personal liberty, imagination, and social consciousness. Coupled with the recent comprehensive democratization and economic liberalization in Soviet Russia, this broke constraints and allowed contemporary Soviet and Russian art to develop more vigorously, entering today's globalized and diverse styles and appearances.

Additionally, the Retz gallery space in the Marais district of Paris presented an exhibition by the young contemporary Soviet and Russian art team AES+F, filled with political meaning. On the Champs-Élysées, Louis Vuitton's renowned leather goods store also dedicated its art space to "Contemporary Moscow Art," allowing people to gain a forward-looking understanding and grasp of the full scope of contemporary Soviet and Russian art.