Person of the week: Yuri Shabelnikov
ARTinvestment.RU   19 мая 2020

If you participate in the artistic process, you can't be a philosopher, do not ask yourself questions. Art — is the way to showdown. I find out the relationship with society, with herself, with themselves as the art (Yuri Shabelnikov)

Yuri Shabelnikov today a recognized artist. Its formation as a creative personality had on the critical years of the late 1980-х — early 1990-х. Then broke the traditional Soviet system of values, ideology collapsed, there was a maturation of new creative processes, beliefs, views on art. In place of the usual characteristic concepts in art, such as "vigorous brush", "beautiful stroke", "texture", comes a different mentality, and as a means of expression in contemporary art are endless, including multimedia technology.

Shabelnikov was the way according to the artist Ter-Оганьяна, "from which a realistic painter, through modernism to the discovery of the reality of the picture, and then added to his Arsenal of objects, assemblages and installations. On this Foundation, the artist is still working" (mmoma.ru). Very precisely and clearly stated.

Shabelnikov was Born in 1959 in Taganrog. He graduated from the Taganrog children's art school in 1977-1979 she studied at the art-графическом faculty of the Rostov state pedagogical Institute. He continued his education at the Rostov art College (1979-1982). From 1982 to 1995 he taught painting at the art school for children.

In 1987 became a member of the now legendary Association "Art or death", a Union of radical artists, poets, rock-музыкантов new generation of Rostov and Taganrog — A. Kislyakova, V. Koshlyakov, and A. Sigutin, A. Ter-Оганьяна, N. Konstantinov and others the Motto of "Art or death" was understood as "the art and no schlock", no compromises. The first exhibition of the Association was held in 1988 in Taganrog, in the House of culture of plant "Surf". It was a one-day exhibition. In 2006, the Museum of modern art in Rostov-на-Дону hosted the exhibition "Art or death. 20 years later". In the framework of the III Biennale of contemporary art state Museum of contemporary art of Russian Academy of arts on Gogol Boulevard in 2009, was shown another retrospective "Art or death". These are the main stages of existence of this Association, left a bright trace in the history of art.

Yuri Shabelnikov came to Moscow in 1995-м and quickly adapted to the creative environment, began to implement their projects, many of which were highly provocative. He lived in a squat "Bauman, 13" until its closure in 1998. Since 2006 he lectured and conducted master-классы for students of the school of contemporary art "Free workshops". We can name some of the projects of the artist: "untitled", which was lying a sleeping policeman and was not allowed to display graphical monochrome series "Soldiers of labor", were such projects as "Mystery-BEEFII", "Scandalous exhibition". In 1998 Shabelnikov in collaboration with Yuri Fesenko made a performance "Mausoleum. Ritual model", or "Lenin in you and in me." The Central figure of the performancewas 80-килограммовый sponge cake with cream rosettes, which present cut into pieces and eaten. It was really shocking, blasphemous spectacle, but the project went down in history of the transformation of the image of a leader in the arts. Shabelnikov participated in the exhibition "on the contrary".

not to mention the conceptual project "the Requiem of the will" which has a strong ideological subtext. He recalls that in Soviet times had their life values and attitudes. People lived and believed in them, believe now. "Lifestyle, social habits, a certain set of stereotypes — it is the Soviet Union in our heads, — says the artist. — On how slow the minds of men are excluded to leave these utopian hypotheses that tried to implement on our skin", — on this question in this cycle.

There is another project with which the artist was nominated for the Kandinsky prize in 2012, — "Bible-mail". The author has selected key fragments or episodes, which formed the basis of the content of "Bible-mail". On special podiums folded paper airplane messages represent communication with the higher powers. The message of God — paper airplanes, heavenly postmen. They float in large canvases — over the water element, on the interiors of cathedrals, among the monuments. These paper boats as a symbol of freedom and openness to the world.

Interesting sayings Shabel'nikova on education. He believes, for example, that the artist is very difficult to get in the context of contemporary art if it does not have the necessary knowledge on the history of art in General. "After studying the artist is at a loss, he received knowledge and how to exploit them does not know. We need to educate ourselves, to question what art is, here and now." The knowledge acquired in a professional University, — according to the artist, — will help to navigate the complex world of contemporary art that operates on different concepts and categories, rather than the academic system.

the artist's Works are in the collections of the State Russian Museum, State Tretyakov gallery, Moscow Museum of modern art, the Museum of modern art АРТ4.RU in the collection of M. Gelman, private domestic and foreign collections.

Since 1993, Shabel has conducted more than 20 personal exhibitions.

"I can't do that-то arbitrarily, — said Shabelnikov. — Contemporary artist ignores neither the situation nor art history, nor the context. There is also a history of the concept. Nothing on an empty place does not happen. Awareness of all of that, plus the distancing from the subject of enunciation, from myself — is a basic indication that the author works in the area of contemporary art."

A. Smirnov