"PUNISH US, GODDESS OF LOVE" BY ANTONIA LEV

In 1870, Austrian author Leopold von Sacher-Masoch wrote "Venus in Furs", a short novel about female dominance and submission. The book had such a powerful and long-lasting impact on mass culture that even the term "sadomasochism" was coined later. Today's sadomasochistic aesthetic includes such fetish accessories as knee-high boots, leather, furs and whips. This practice also rescinds the discourse of violence and the desire to cancel the so-called "European tolerance" in early 2020s Russia. LGBTQ+ propaganda is prohibited in the country and even a portrait of a gay or lesbian couple in a magazine or an innocent online marketing campaign can cause public outrage.

Antonia Lev, a street artist and illustrator, depicts contemporary Russian Venus as an LGBTQ+ icon, who is able to cope with national neurosis, and at the same time as a symbol of pleasure that comes with unfailing love. If a person wants to be punished, it means he or she is ready for gratification. According to Russian legislation, as of the date this NFT was minted, the work can be made only illegally — as a part of "Carte Blanche" guerilla street art festival in Yekaterinburg, a huge industrial city and street art capital of Russia.