Conceptual performance artist and activist Nadya Tolokonnikova is the creator of Pussy Riot, a global feminist art movement. She was sentenced in 2012 to 2 years' imprisonment following an anti-Putin performance
Punk Prayer. Punk Prayer was named by
The Guardian among the best art pieces of the 21st century.
Tolokonnikova's
Putin’s Ashes art installation at Jeffrey Deitch Gallery in January 2023 propelled her into a new criminal case and put on
Russia’s most wanted criminal list. In 2024 her debut museum exhibition
RAGE, opened at OK Linz, Linz, Austria, and the eponymous performance piece performed at the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin. In 2025, Tolokonnikova has solo shows at Honor Fraser gallery (Los Angeles), Nagel Draxler (Berlin) and MOCA (Los Angeles).
Tolokonnikova's work is in the collections of The Brooklyn Museum, Dallas Museum of Art, Museum of Art and Design, American Folk Art Museum, Taschen and Beth Rudin DeWoody, among others.
Born: Norilsk, Siberia
Lives: Geographically anonymous
