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Nadya Tolokonnikova’s POLICE STATE named Hyperallergic and Art News top exhibition of the year
Nadya Tolokonnikova’s “POLICE STATE” performance named one of the top art exhibitions of the year by Art News and Hyperallergic.
“More than a decade after Pussy Riot cofounder Nadya Tolokonnikova was incarcerated in Russia, the artist returned to a prison of her own making in her performance installation Police State (2025) at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles this June. Tolokonnikova reimagined her prison cell as a space for art—a form of reclamation not only for herself but also for the Russian, Belarusian, and American prisoners whose pieces were incorporated into the installation. Inside, visitors could observe Tolokonnikova making music or art, or even resting throughout the day, via security camera footage and peepholes. The eerie authoritarian state came to life extended beyond MOCA, however, when anti-ICE protests erupted and the National Guard was deployed. With Police State unexpectedly closed to the public during the protests, Tolokonnikova continued staging the work in private, underscoring the piece’s continued relevance amid the ongoing political conflicts in the US and abroad. —Francesca Aton”
“Nadya Tolokonnikova, founder of the Russian feminist group Pussy Riot, has been imprisoned, surveilled, and threatened by Russia her country for her activism. (Russia recently labelled Pussy Riot an “extremist” group.) For her durational performance at MOCA Geffen this past summer, she recreated a cramped prison cell, where viewers could watch her through peepholes as she remixed actual prison recordings into haunting soundscapes. The urgency of Police State was made chillingly clear when anti-ICE protestors and police clashed in the streets outside the museum a few days into the performance, prompting Tolokonnikova to emerge from her simulacrum of state-sponsored repression, and confront its real-world analog. —Matt Stromberg”
Author: Sophie Carroll
Nadya Tolokonnikova’s POLICE STATE named defining artwork of 2025 by Art News
Art News writer Francesca Aton states:
“More than a decade after Pussy Riot cofounder Nadya Tolokonnikova was incarcerated in Russia, the artist returned to a prison of her own making in her performance installation Police State (2025) at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles this June. Tolokonnikova reimagined her prison cell as a space for art—a form of reclamation not only for herself but also for the Russian, Belarusian, and American prisoners whose pieces were incorporated into the installation. Inside, visitors could observe Tolokonnikova making music or art, or even resting throughout the day, via security camera footage and peepholes. The eerie authoritarian state came to life extended beyond MOCA, however, when anti-ICE protests erupted and the National Guard was deployed. With Police State unexpectedly closed to the public during the protests, Tolokonnikova continued staging the work in private, underscoring the piece’s continued relevance amid the ongoing political conflicts in the US and abroad.”
Nadya Tolokonnikova’s groundbreaking performance art piece POLICE STATE was named one of the defining artworks of 2025 by Art News. The list included works by prestigious artists including Kara Walker, Amy Sherald, and Barbara Krueger.
June 28 – July 20, 2025 | Nadya Tolokonnikova: I Wasn’t Invited so I Broke the Door
Nadya Tolokonnikova’s art is her weapon against tyranny. Born in Siberia in 1989, Tolokonnikova left Moscow at 16 to study philosophy. As Russian society became increasingly oppressive, Tolokonnikova became a multimedia conceptual artist and founded the feminist activist collective Pussy Riot.
Pussy Riot used microphones, electric guitars, and amplifiers they cobbled together from car speakers; they shouted and danced to shine a light on the Russian government’s increasing human rights violations.
Russian police have arrested Nadya Tolokonnikova more than 70 times for her anti-authoritarian art activism, and in 2012 was imprisoned for 21 months in a Siberian penal colony. Rather than give up, Tolokonnikova fights back with truth and art.
Turner Carroll is pleased to present Tolokonnikova’s internationally touring exhibition of works, which premiered at the OK Linz Museum and at LA MoCA, making them available for collectors. Join us for the opening and a presentation by Nadya Tolokonnikova at 5:30pm on June 28, 2025.
