‘I was thrilled when they put me in solitary’: Pussy Riot’s Nadya on Putin, joining OnlyFans and turning her prison cell into art

The artist spent time at a penal colony for her work – and has channelled the trauma into a stark new show. Despite being on Russia’s ‘wanted’ list, she remains hopeful for the futureTen minutes into our interview, Nadya Tolokonnikova ducks to fetch a piece of paper from the floor and I find myself looking at something unexpected behind her. Next to a double bed, two crucifixes hang on the wall. Given the Siberia-born artist is best known for a performance piece that so offended the head of the Russian Orthodox church that he called it blasphemy, the discovery of such devotional regalia comes as a surprise. It certainly doesn’t suggest “religious hatred”, which is what a Moscow court said in 2012 motivated Tolokonnikova’s group Pussy Riot to perform a “punk prayer” in the city’s Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, before sentencing her to two years imprisonment. Nor does it smack of someone bent on hurting the “religious feelings of believers” – the charge under which Tolokonnikova was sentenced again two years ago, this time in absentia, and put on Russia’s wanted list.Famous for performing in garishly coloured balaclavas, Pussy Riot appeared unmasked in court in 2012 – which turned the photogenic Tolokonnikova into the most globally recognisable face of a wave of protests against the then Russian PM Vladimir Putin. But looking at those bedside crosses, and at her new exhibition in Berlin, you wonder if everyone got the wrong end of the stick. Part of the German capital’s gallery weekend, her solo show Wanted at Galerie Nagel Draxler doesn’t just feature a replica of her former prison cell and a screening of the Putin’s Ashes performance that led to her wanted status, but also Tolokonnikova’s own paintings of religious icons. She uses tasteful old Slavic calligraphy techniques – while putting the icons in Pussy Riot ski masks. Continue reading...

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