Multimedia Art Museum, Moscow
18 Sep — on November 13 2019
Moscow, Ostozhenka str., 16

Vladimir Yankilevsky was born on 15 February 1938 in the family of the artist Boris Yankilevsky. In 1950 entered the Moscow secondary art school (mshsh) at the Institute. Surikova. In 1962 graduated from the Moscow printing Institute, specialty "artist books".

In 1962, 24-летний Vladimir Yankilevsky participated in the infamous exhibition "30 years MOSKH" in the Manege, organized by Academy of fine arts. Besides the work of members of the Moscow artists in the exhibition were presented the works of the participants of Belyutin's Studio of Ernst Neizvestny and other young artists seeking for new artistic language of expression. Khrushchev, in advance "wound" advisors, very sharply assessed this exhibition. Scandal in the Arena has led to several generations of artists for years were deprived of the opportunity to publicly exhibit their work. The exhibition at the Manezh started the mechanism of formation of the phenomenon which was later called the "informal culture" or the "Soviet underground".

ironically, thanks to the Khrushchev thaw, slightly lifted the iron curtain, Vladimir Yankilevsky, like many artists of his generation, had the opportunity to get acquainted with the work of stars of the art world and to rethink what was taught Soviet "academic" school of painting. Exhibition of Pablo Picasso in 1956 in the Pushkin Museum, a contemporary art exhibition at the world festival of youth and students 1957, introduction to French art of the late XIX — beginning of the XX century inspired by the search for means of artistic expression suitable to convey own understanding and experience of the surrounding reality. Later, in "the Attempt of creative autobiography" Vladimir Yankilevsky wrote: "Academic school conservative and limited. She finds a certain and specific period in art, the Supreme and immutable achievement and teaches the imitation of his examples, ignoring the fact that a new reality is born and the new realism, hence eternal renewal and development of art... In a sense, the official art was a mirror of the official life, of falsity, of wishful thinking, ignorance, demagogy with aesthetically embellished facade. According to the official art it was possible to diagnose the disease of society".

unlike many artists of his generation and his circle, Yankilevsky not just looking for a way to convey through their art in relation to reality, he was interested in global metaphysical problems, traditionally running through the entire history of art: life and death, divine and devil, moral and immoral, temporal and eternal. Already in the works, 1962, are presented in the Arena: the pentaptychs "Nuclear power plant", "Triptych No. 2" and the series "Theme and improvisation", it creates a universal structure of the painting as a model of being. In "Triptych No. 2" Vladimir Yankilevsky implants in a beautiful fabric greeting card-репродукции his favorite artist of the era of the Quattrocento, Piero della Francesca. Early Renaissance, intriguante Yankilevsky first of all a multiplicity of perspectives, incorporating in one work, undoubtedly influenced the formation of hisart of the universe.

From the beginning the young artist tried to find the necessary images-формы allowed to Express his personal experiences and understanding of the world. This was very helpful meeting with an outstanding teacher and Ely Belyutin had that in 1958 he taught at the Polygraphic Institute. Eleven classes (one academic year) was enough to lay the Foundation for future independent development of the artistic universe and their own unique plastic language of Vladimir Yankylevsky.

Project in MAMMO — a reconstruction of the exhibition of Vladimir Yankylevsky Monument heroïque ("Heroic monument"), which took place in 1994 in Paris, the Centre of modern art La Base based Olivier Moran. This exhibition was very important for the artist because it was possible to bring together all main structural elements, cycles, series and vectors of the universe Yankylevsky. The formation of his artistic cosmos was very fast and incredibly intense, between 1960-ми and 1970-ми years. In this period, there are cycles of "Theme and improvisation", "the Space of experiences", "Anatomy of feelings", "self-Portraits", "Mutants", "Men in boxes". Each of these cycles, the artist will develop throughout life. The most important form of expression for it will be the collages, allowing individual elements to build a whole, infinitely varying and supplementing the volume of the artistic world of Vladimir Yankylevsky. Their creativity Yankilevsky was described as "...the process is similar to jazz improvisation or fugu — must first select the theme, then play an improvisation. It is a world of tense harmony, but it is an absurdity, and the anecdote that reflects the irrational side of life beyond the already established conception of harmony."

Central to the project "a Heroic monument" is a sculpture reconstructed from the drawings of the artist and photographs from the exhibition 1994 in the centre La Base. This sculpture is a development of his monumental cycle "People in boxes", figures, which arise from Yankilevsky already 70-е years. This cycle appears after the installation of the famous "Door" (1972), where it articulated the most important theme of the collision of the spaces of society and ekzistencia when a person acts as a carrier and simultaneously as a victim of idealism and absurdity. For the artist it was important that the sculpture "People in boxes" is set in the hall, which exhibited his drawings, gouaches, etchings and collages of all series, the most important element of which are landscapes with horizons (horizon — backbone element of the world space Yankilevsky) — eternal background against which unfolds the tragedy of being "people in boxes".

the structure of the project "a Heroic Monument" inherent conflict of the opposing principles and forms, eventually leading to the search of harmony, balancing chaos.

the Emergence of a series of "self Portraits", on which the artist will work on throughout our lives, was no accident. Self-portraits of Vladimir Yankylevsky opposite in this genre was to him all the art world. They have no resemblance with the portrayed person, but metaphorically "open the mind" of the artist and explicit moments of his career. We can say that the cycle"Self-portraits" is developing a series of "Space of experiences". "All the works in this series are "horizon", as the energy stream of life, dividing the thing in "heaven"and "earth"", — told Yankilevsky.

the works of Vladimir Yankylevsky unique and interesting because, on the one hand, it is inherent in the violent and emotional expression of the maximum voltage of each artistic gesture, no matter what technique the artist: painting, collage, relief, drawing, or sculpture@the semicolon on the other hand, his artistic system is built very intelligently. Conflict, tension and harmony between the emotional and intellectual basis in the work of Vladimir Yankylevsky, attempt in each work to capture the universal structure of the universe and the transformation of work in its own artistic universe, define a special place that creativity Yankylevsky is in modern Russian and in modern art world. It is no accident Vladimir Yankilevsky was the first Soviet artist whose works were in the collection of the Center Georges Pompidou on the recommendation of the first Director Pontus Hulten street of Hulten in the first year of operation of the Museum in 1977.

During the life of Vladimir Yankylevsky had more than 40 solo exhibitions. His works are in the collections of major museums and galleries around the world, including Centre Georges Pompidou (Paris), London's Tate Modern, Ludwig Museum (Russian Museum, St-Петербург), National gallery in Prague, Museum of fine arts of Budapest, the Tretyakov gallery and others.

Vladimir Yankilevsky died shortly before his eightieth birthday. Unfortunately, he did not see his retrospective exhibition "the Incomprehensibility of being" in the MMSI, on which he worked till his last days. He left a huge amount of work that is waiting for understanding and positioning in the context of both Russian and global contemporary art. The exhibition at MAMM would not have been possible without the participation of the widow of the artist, his Muse and life partner — Rimma Solod. MAMMA thanks for the help and support in the implementation of the international cultural organisation Breus Foundation, which began fundamental work with the creative heritage of Vladimir Yankylevsky.

Curators: Olga Sviblova, Anna Zaitseva. Co-organizer of the exhibition: the international cultural organisation Breus Foundation

Source: press-релиз of the exhibition