The Russian avant-garde reached its creative and popular height in the period between the Russian Revolution of 1917 and 1932, at which point the ideas of the avant-garde clashed with the newly emerged state-sponsored direction of Socialist Realism. Russian avant-garde often-utilizing strong graphic imagery and incorporated text. My influence here leans more towards Constructivism although I done used their more usual muted pallet. I have utilizing a distorted axonometric perspective and “agitprop”—a combination of the words “agitation” and “propaganda.” Constructivists sought to break art down into its most fundamental parts, challenge the legitimacy of established traditions, and create an art form relevant to a rapidly changing world. The title, “When the Cities Fall,” it is a reference to the city as a mechanism of nationalistic pride and propaganda, and how the empires of humanity in their pride and arrogance, have the seeds of their own destruction built into them. The tropical fish-like retro plane is a nod to HG Wells “Thing’s to Come.”
