Pop-Aganda: Revolution & Iconography

Artists: Liz Cohen, Sonya Kelliher-Combs, Bekezela Mguni, Emily Newman, “Untitled,” Lera Lerner, Veronika Rudyeva-Ryazantseva, Syanda Yaptik

The Mattress Factory is pleased to announce Pop-Aganda: Revolution & Iconography, an exhibition of new site-specific works from eight artists opening on April 16, 2022 in the Museum’s Main Building. Pop-Aganda is the fourth iteration of curator Tavia La Follette’s ongoing Sites of Passage series—a global interchange for the migration of ideas across political and cultural borders.

Click here to learn more about the exhibition and the artists.

In the spirit of ArtUp, the non-profit La Follette founded, she selects artists who investigate new channels of artistic communication. Exploring the socio-political landscape through the lens of the self is a common thread for this unique group of artists coming from a vast array of lived experiences. For this exhibition, after three research trips in 2018 and 2019, La Follette selected eight multidisciplinary, social practice–oriented artists based in the US and in Russia. 

From the first stages of planning in early 2019, world events impacted this exhibition. La Follette and the artists had sought to explore an understanding of the world around us in the age of disinformation and the investigative role artists play in this process. The exhibition was thus originally planned to open in November 2020, to align with the U.S. Presidential elections, but was postponed to April 1, 2022 due to the COVID-19 global pandemic.  

More recently, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in late February 2022 prompted further pause and consideration. The Mattress Factory and La Follette condemn, in the strongest possible terms, the war, and stand in solidarity with Ukraine. They will not work with artists who support the invasion or Russian President Vladimir Putin—and also will not boycott Russian artists by merit of their nationality alone. The Mattress Factory and La Follette thus postponed the exhibition for two weeks to allow time for additional discussion, in light of rapidly evolving world events.

Says La Follette, “This show grew out of an age of disinformation, where worldwide ‘realities’ are spread, bred, and cultivated in the name of facts. Off-script political expression is not allowed in Russia where dissident culture can barely survive in the margins. As we know well in this country, one can’t judge a people by their leader. This show and this statement are historic acts in a historic moment in support of artistic expression. We trust our visitors to make their own judgement calls.” 

The original questions that La Follette posed in 2019 remain true today, and are even more important to explore now: How does an idea become a fact? As cultural meaning makers, how do artists play a role in the migration of thought? This exhibition, and the answers to these inquiries, will continue to evolve with world events.

For more information or to arrange an interview or photography, contact: mgibson@mattress.org / T +1 412-313-5413

About the Mattress Factory
The Mattress Factory, founded in 1977, is a site-specific contemporary art museum with a mission to say “Yes” to artists. Located in Pittsburgh’s historic Northside, just minutes from Downtown Pittsburgh, the Mattress Factory hosts artists from around the world and around the corner who live and work at the Museum as they create site-specific installation art that transforms spaces in our two historic row homes, converted mattress warehouse and surrounding neighborhood. In addition to revolving installations created by artists-in-residence, the Mattress Factory also is home to installations by Greer Lankton, James Turrell, Winifred Lutz, Yayoi Kusama and more. For more information, call 412-231-3169 or visit mattress.org.