Russian bureaucracy remove K&M’s stained glass symbol from the Moscow version of Berlin-Moscow, Moscow-Berlin 1950-2000. “For me, Symbols of the Big Bang is the beginning of Nostalgic Nonconformist Art. It is a renaissance of our early works, such as Paradise/Pantheon, which was studied for its visual synthesis of different spiritual concepts and different religions, created under the condition of the Totalitarian Atheistic state. Unfortunately, this quest stalled. It’s not too late, however, to turn again in this previous direction and pursue it. I can’t help but imagine how nonconformist painting could have flourished had it not been for the negative influence of the market, the same force that stopped the development of the counter-culture of the sixties in the West.
“I also believe that Moses Iconoclasm is the earliest form of Universal Ecumenism: that different tribes worship different images reflects a kind of spiritual tribal heraldry—and the destruction of the Golden Calf united the tribes of Israel. Now, my naïve dream was to unite mandalas and heraldry in a visual symbol of peaceful co-existence for different spiritual concepts. I understand that art and science can become a foundation for united religions”—from remarks by Vitaly Komar, public lecture/slide performance, The Temple Judea Museum, January 25, 2024.