50th Anniversary of Building the Berlin Wall to be Commemorated in Los Angeles on August 13

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 11, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The Cold War rivalry between the Soviet Union and the United States reached a boiling point exactly fifty years ago when on August 13, 1961, the Berlin Wall was built, physically and symbolically dividing the peoples of East and West. In response to the 50th anniversary of the building of the Wall, The Wende Museum, the largest archive of the Cold War in the world, will install 16 Soviet portraits on exterior walls in Downtown Los Angeles's Old Bank District at Main Street between 4th Street and 5th Street, artistically rejoining former foes.

The outdoor installation, entitled "Across the Wall," features 16 full-size reproductions of museum portraits of Soviet men and women dating from 1949 to 1988. Many renowned artists are represented, including Mikhail Bozhii, Alexander Gulyaev and Boris Lavrenko. "These pieces remind us that we are all citizens of the same planet," according to Joe Moller, Executive Director of the Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk. "We hope this experience makes appreciating museum quality works more accessible to the community."

The portraits will hang from August 13 through September 1 and can be previewed in advance on August 11 during the Los Angeles Downtown Art Walk beginning at 5 pm. "These works represent individuals dealing with life, something we can all relate to and appreciate," said developer Tom Gilmore, whose major projects include Downtown Los Angeles's historic Old Bank District.

The Wende Museum was founded by Justinian Jampol in 2002 with a mission to preserve the cultural artifacts and personal histories of Cold War-era Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. In 2009, the Museum staged the largest celebration of the 20th Anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall in the world outside of Berlin by closing Wilshire Blvd. in Los Angeles. The Wende will be the subject of a major TASCHEN publication in 2012.

Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk attracts 30,000 people to Gallery Row in the Historic Core on the 2nd Thursday of every month.

For more information on the installation and The Wende Museum, call 310-216-1600 or visit www.WendeMuseum.org.

SOURCE The Wende Museum