Emergency Telephone Booth With Bust Of Stalin, 1986
An old, grey, Dutch alarm cell accommodates a bronze bust of former Russian dictator Joseph Stalin (1878-1953). The bust stands on a pedestal swathed in red fabric. Beside it is a lamp and a herring hangs immediately under Stalin’s nose. The sculpture is the work of Vitaly Komar (b. 1943) & Alexander Melamid (b. 1945), Russian artists who now live in New York and are well-known for their provocative works criticizing the Soviet regime. This piece is a good example.Â
It was originally exhibited in Geleenstraat, a street in The Hague’s red light district. Stalin must have felt quite at home there, especially with that herring in front of his nose, since he had a considerable penchant both for the fish and for members of the world’s oldest profession. But he was imprisoned – as dictators deserve to be. The transfer of the sculpture to the garden of the Kunstmuseum Den Haag in 2002 has changed its connotations. The red lamp remains an allusion to Geleenstraat, but its aura is now mainly one of domesticity. Stalin appears to be ‘cosily’ enclosed in his own historical reality. Works by Vitaly & Alexander Melamid feature in the collections of prominent museum worldwide, including that of the Museum of Modern Art in New York.