Having been brought up within an émigré community of Soviet artists, dissidents, writers and musicians, there is no separating my family’s journey to America from the task of finding a common thread among the artists featured here. These are parallel narratives and whether working on a short story or screenplay or curating an exhibit of fine art I am, above all, a storyteller. In considering my own creative work, much of it is fueled by growing up among two cultures; Russian was my first language, though I was born and raised in the United States. While the anecdotes are plenty, the duality remains the same, often times as a doorway to new insights and observation. Since 2001, sourcing and sharing Russian paintings has been a passion. In exploring why my parents immigrated to America and under what conditions, I looked to the art of the times for answers. What I came back with was a sense of urgency, of controversy—a visual protest and an emotional reaction to Soviet suppression and censorship over all artistic efforts. In a period when any expression was a political act in and of itself, these artists gave voice to those who could not be heard. In turn, they made not only art history, but in their own way, helped give shape to world history. By investigating the subtext of these works – especially of those completed in the Soviet era – I gain a better awareness of self. I hope you enjoy viewing these Russian non-conformist paintings, showcasing some of its most established and famed artists of the past forty years. This is a rare opportunity to view some of Russia’s most idiosyncratic art. This is also a chance to see new images by these masters—created in the West, yet distinctively part of a larger, international body of work.