Nadya Tolokonnikova was a co-founder, activist and conceptual artist of Pussy Riot placed on Russia’s most wanted list for “criminal activity” after news broke earlier this year of her latest performing work linked to Vladimir Putin. Tolokonnikova filmed their joint performance “Putin’s Ashes” (2022) last August, in which she showed herself and 11 other women in balaclavas setting fire to a 10-foot portrait of the Russian President in the desert.
After she and the group cast spells together to oust Putin from his post, Tolokonnikova bottled the ashes of his cremated portrait and presented them with the short film during her first solo show at Jeffrey Deitch’s gallery in Los Angeles last January .
“Coincidentally, my Instagram profile disappeared and this new criminal case was announced within a week of the show,” the artist said in a press release upon finding out she was on the list. “The police arrested friends and family and my lawyers sent me the documents they found.”
In 2012, Tolokonnikova and two others were members of Pussy Riot sentenced to two years in prison for “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred” for an impromptu concert at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow.
According to reports earlier this month Russia opened a criminal investigation against Tolokonnikova on the grounds that an NFT she sold in 2021 “offended religious sensibilities”. The NFT was a picture of a hand drawn Virgin Mary resembling a vulva at the top of the digitized records of Tolokonnikova’s prison sentencing documents.
“Any truly political artist risks their personal security for their art,” Tolokonnikova said. “It’s not a new concept for me. They threaten us, but we cannot show fear.”
“I will use the tools I have as an artist and crypto enthusiast to keep fighting,” she added. “I’m not a soldier, I’m an artist, art is my weapon. I’m glad to see they’re scared.”
