Komar and Melamid

The art of defiance, the price of fame, and the return of a familiar enemy.

In the USSR, they rebelled against the regime by making fun of official state propaganda. In Cold War-Era New York, they were crowned Soviet Pop Artists, and entered every major museum collection in the West. Now, decades after the collapse of both the Soviet Union and their friendship, the dissident artist duo Komar and Melamid reflects on the artists’ unlikely takedown of an empire, as Russian totalitarianism rages once again.