Description:

LEONID SOKOV (RUSSIAN-AMERICAN 1941-2018)
Spermatozoa
wrought iron
length: 121.7 cm (47 1/2 in.)

inscribed with signature

PROVENANCE
Acquired directly from the artist
Roman Tabakman Collection, New Jersey
Collection of Albright College, Reading, Pennsylvania
Private Collection, New York

LOT NOTES
Leonid Sokov was a pioneering Russian conceptual artist whose work bridged the cultural and ideological divide between the Soviet and post-Soviet worlds. Born in Tver, Russia, in 1941, Sokov was educated at the Moscow School of Art and Industry (Stroganov Institute), where he developed a grounding in craft and materiality that would later infuse his conceptual practice. Emerging as one of the key figures of the Sots Art movement - the Soviet counterpart to Pop Art - Sokov used irony, humor, and recontextualization to subvert political imagery and everyday symbols of power.

The sculpture Spermatozoa, forged in wrought iron, exemplifies Sokov’s wit and his fascination with the intersection of function and metaphor. Designed to double as a doorbell, the work fuses the biological and the mechanical, the intimate and the utilitarian. Its playful form - an undulating, life-generating shape rendered in cold, industrial metal - embodies the artist’s characteristic tension between creation and absurdity. Like much of Sokov’s art, it is both humorous and deeply philosophical, suggesting that even the simplest object can serve as a commentary on human ingenuity, reproduction, and persistence.

After emigrating to the United States in 1980, Sokov became a vital voice in the global conversation about art, ideology, and memory. His works have been exhibited internationally, including at the Venice Biennale, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, and the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and are held in major museum and private collections worldwide.

Since his passing in 2018, Sokov’s reputation has continued to grow, solidifying his position as one of the most important Russian artists of the 20th century. His practice - spanning sculpture, painting, assemblage, and conceptual object-making - remains a cornerstone of post-Soviet artistic identity, marked by irony, craftsmanship, and a deeply human sense of humor.

CONDITION
The sculpture is in good condition. No apparent damages or repairs.

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October 25, 2025 10:00 AM EDT
Bedford Hills, NY, US

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