If shock factor was an art form, surely, Pussy Riot‘s Nadya Tolokonnikova has achieved the rank of master. Formed in Moscow over a decade ago, the Feminist punk rock band has regularly staged anti-government protests, including a crypto organization to raise funds for Ukraine, along with a recent performance where the group burned a portrait of Russian president Vladimir Putin, which went on view at Jeffrey Deitch in Los Angeles last month.
To celebrate International Women’s Day on March 8, Tolokonnikova will screen a new digital billboard entitled Nadya Means Hope. Broadcasting on London’s Piccadilly Lights, the short video showcases the Pussy Riot co-founder in her signature white balaclava as she lights an eggplant emoji candle-sculpture ablaze. The work was influenced by the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision to overturn of Roe v. Wade on June 24, 2022 — denying women the right to an abortion, which prompted many artists such as Tolokonnikova to question the global patriarchy around the world.
In collaboration with CIRCA, Tolokonnikova has produced several hand-signed prints depicting seven male faces on US banknotes that have been disguised in balaclavas. “A woman has not featured on US paper money in over 100 years since Martha Washington’s portrait was featured on the one silver dollar note in the 1880s and 90s,” noted a release by CIRCA. “There are currently seven bills in circulation…all featuring men and each one a symbol of the patriarchy.”
Each print will feature a different banknote and colored balaclava with all proceeds benefitting #CIRCAECONOMY – the organization’s free public art programs, striving to create life-changing opportunities for the wider creative community. Please visit CIRCA for more information. As for the eggplant sculpture, those looking to purchase can currently bid on it via Sotheby’s My Body My Business online sale, which concludes on March 11.
