Griby i Mukhi: A Historical Contextualization of the Esoteric Mushroom Religion of Moscow Conceptualism: Fungal Erotic Imagery of Entheogens and Insects

Moscow Conceptualism, a Russian artistic and literary movement, has deep religious fungal foundations rooted in Slavic and European esoteric mythology. The fly agaric mushroom (amanita muscaria) and its associated flies are central to the movement's transgressive spiritual and erotic aesthetics. Figures such as Andrey Monastyrsky, Ilia Kabakov, Elagina and Makarevich, the Mukhomor collectives, and Sergey Kuriokhin are not only artists but literary innovators who blend art and religion into a novel form of symbiotic semiosis, blurring traditional boundaries between art forms in line with international avant-garde aesthetics.

Study at a glance

Abstract

This paper aims to observe, contextualize, and analyze the multifaceted religious fungal foundations of Moscow Conceptualism within the context of Slavic and European esoteric mythological praxis. By unveiling the thematic basis of their transgressive spiritual endeavors, this study seeks to enhance our comprehension of this artistic and literary movement in the Western world. Besides exploring the erotic aesthetics associated with mushrooms, significant attention is devoted to various flies, as the biological vitality of the mukhomor (‘fly agaric’ or amanita muscaria) is inconceivable without them. Moscow Conceptualist visionaries, including Andrey Monastyrsky, Ilia Kabakov, Elagina and Makarevich, and the Mukhomor Moscow collectives, along with their no less famous colleague from Leningrad, Sergey Kuriokhin, emerge not only as artists but also as literary innovators. They seamlessly integrate advancements from the realm of art, giving rise to a novel form of religiously symbiotic semiosis. Consequently, the traditional boundaries between diverse art forms become blurred, marking a distinctive characteristic that aligns with international contemporary avant-garde aesthetics.