Pussy Riot’s Nadya Tolokonnikova is currently delivering the durational performance, Police State, at the MOCA Geffen Contemporary, 152 North Central Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90012. The shows are free admission with RSVP, and are running until Saturday, June 14th. On June 15th there will be an artist talk panel & Pussy Riot Siberia Performance, at Warehouse at The Geffen Contemporary, 3-6pm, which is now sold out. Find out more below.
RSVP for entry here: https://moca.ticketapp.org/portal/product/294/events
In Police State, Nadya Tolokonnikova (b. 1989 Norilsk, Russia) explores the omnipresent mechanisms of control, surveillance, and the alienation of living under systems of power that seek to dominate the body, mind, and spirit. The work transforms Warehouse into a visceral representation of a panopticon—a space where the watcher and the watched exist in a perpetual dance of oppression, resistance, and exposure.
This durational performance takes the form of a confined cell —a symbolic nucleus of human resilience to state power. Inside, Tolokonnikova performs a spectrum of soundscapes, from eerie, haunted lullabies to bursts of harsh noise. The cell becomes both a prison and a sanctuary, a space where despair meets defiance, and silence gives way to the radical act of creation. While Police State confronts the brutality of control, it also insists on the possibility of catharsis and connection. The cell becomes a paradox: a site of confinement and liberation, despair and creativity. Through this interplay, Tolokonnikova invites the audience to grapple with the mechanisms of oppression while seeking the sparks of hope that resist it.
Nadya Tolokonnikova is a conceptual performance artist, activist, and the creator of Pussy Riot, a global feminist art movement. In 2012, she received a two-year prison term following the anti-Putin performance Punk Prayer. In 2023, Tolokonnikova’s installation, Putin’s Ashes, at Jeffrey Deitch Gallery, Los Angeles, propelled her into a new criminal case and put her on Russia’s most wanted criminal list. Her debut museum exhibition Rage, (2024) was presented at OK Linz, Austria, and the eponymous performance at Neue Nationalgalerie, Germany. Tolokonnikova’s work is in the collections of The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; The Brooklyn Museum, New York; Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas; Museum of Art and Design, New York; and the American Folk Art Museum, New York, among others. With thanks to Galerie Nagel Draxler, Berlin and Honor Fraser Gallery, Los Angeles.
Wonmi’s Warehouse Programs is organized by Alex Sloane, associate curator, and is produced by Amelia Charter, producer of performance and programs with Michele Huizar, performance coordinator, The Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles. Wonmi’s Warehouse Programs is founded by Wonmi & Kihong Kwon and family. Performances at MOCA are supported by the MOCA Fund for Performance with generous funding provided by Betsy Greenberg and The Lenore S. and Bernard A. Greenberg Fund.
Nadya Tolokonnikova’s durational performance will be at MOCA Geffen Contemporary the following days:
Thursday June 5: 11am–5pm
Friday June 6: 11am–8pm
Saturday June 7: 11am–6pm
Sunday June 8: 11am–6pm
Monday June 9: CLOSED
Tuesday June 10: CLOSED
Wednesday June 11: CLOSED
Thursday June 12: 11am–5pm
Friday June 13: 11am–5pm
Saturday June 14: 11am–6pm
Read more about Police State here. https://www.moca.org/program/nadya-tolokonnikova-police-state
Read more about the artist panel and performance here:
https://www.moca.org/program/nadya-tolokonnikova-police-state-panel-pussy-riot-siberia-performance
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