Russia has named activist Nadya Tolokonnikova, cofounder of the Pussy Riot feminist performance art collective, to its wanted list for criminal suspects following her recent gallery show “Putin’s Ashes,” at Jeffrey Deitch in Los Angeles.
The exhibition marked the debut of Pussy Riot’s latest music video, in which Tolokonnikova enacts a ritualistic burning of a 10-foot-tall portrait of Russian President Vladimir Putin, visualizing his wished-for death. (Earlier this year, she spoke at length about the project and her dedication to both art and political activism with Artnet News podcast the Art Angle.)
The artist believes the high-profile exhibition, with its anti-Putin message, triggered Russia’s new efforts to silence her.
“My Instagram vanished and this new criminal case was announced within a week of the show,” Tolokonnikova said in a statement. “Police detained friends and family.”
Pussy Riot co-founder Nadya Tolokonnikova. Photo courtesy of Pussy Riot.
Tolokonnikova previously served nearly two years in a labor camp after being convicted for “hooliganism” for the collective’s 2012 performance art protest Punk Prayer at Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Savior. This time around, she could face another two years imprisonment, plus a fine of up to 300,000 rubles ($4,000), according to Rolling Stone.
The inclusion of the artist on Russia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs’ wanted list was first reported by leading Russian human rights lawyer Pavel Chikov in the independent Russian news website Meduza. Mediazona, the anti-Putin Russian news outlet founded by Tolokonnikova and fellow Pussy Riot founder Maria Alyokhina, later identified Tolokonnikova’s name listed in the government database.
The new criminal case against the artist cites one of her NFT art projects, a drawing on top of Tolokonnikova’s prison sentencing documents that Russian authorities claim “insulted religious sensibilities” by prominently depicting the Virgin Mary in the form of the vulva. This is illegal under Article 148 of Russia’s criminal code—an offense added following Pussy Riot’s 2012 conviction. (Tolokonnikova calls it the “Pussy Riot Article.”)
“Any truly political artist risks their personal safety for the sake of their art… It is not a new concept for me,” Tolokonnikova said. “But [it is] maybe the first time art from an NFT is being used as evidence to try to throw someone in jail.”
Shepard Fairey and Pussy Riot, Putin’s Ashes (2022). Courtesy of the artists.
The artist has become a major proponent of NFTs, which she has leveraged as an activist fundraising tool. Just two days after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, she founded UkraineDAO, raising more than $7 million through sales of an NFT of the Ukrainian flag. She is continuing to support the cause with a Putin’s Ashes NFT by Shepard Fairey, with proceeds going toward the Bakhmut Frontline Unit in Ukraine.
The piece that triggered the new criminal charges against the artist, titled Virgin Mary, Please Become a Feminist, sold on SuperRare on September 30, 2021, for 40ETH ($120,000). In addition to the Virgin Mary at its center, the work features other colorful doodles around the borders, including the Russian and LGBTQ flags, ice cream cones, bunny rabbits, and the Cathedral of Christ the Savior.
Tolokonnikova described the work in an artist’s statement at the time, saying “I’ve decided to work with papers from my prison sentence and to overcome the negative experience, I decided to subvert it with colorful, childish, happy pictures. I wanted to transform my traumatic experience into something positive as much as possible.”
Pussy Riot, Virgin Mary, Please Become A Feminist (2021). Courtesy of the artist.
The court papers seeking the artist’s arrest, translated from Russian by representatives of Pussy Riot, describe the work as “an expression of obvious disrespect in relation to the icon image the Virgin Mary, depicted in an obscene form, so that the image is perceived as outwardly similar to the anatomical details of the female external genitalia.… expressing disrespect, disregard for the image revered in Christianity.”
In December of 2021, Russia labeled Tolokonnikova a “foreign agent” as part of its efforts to stifle her anti-government activism and discredit her. Though she has left Russia to avoid further incarceration, she has refused to stay silent.
“They threaten us but we cannot show fear,” Tolokonnikova said. “I will use the tools I have as an artist and crypto enthusiast to keep fighting. I’m not a soldier, I’m an artist, art is my weapon. Glad to see they are scared.”