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Oleksandr Balbyshev "Soft Lenin" (2018) Textile Art by Oleksandr Balbyshev
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Original Artwork (One Of A Kind)
Textile Art,
Embroidery
/
Fabric
on Fabric
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Dimensions
33.9x26 in
Dimensions of the work alone, without framing: Height 27.6in, Width 19.7in - Artwork's condition The artwork is in perfect condition
- Framing This artwork is framed
- Categories Textile Arts under $5,000 Figurative Portrait
About the artwork
The piece was made of the found original embroidered portrait of Lenin of Soviet times. This peculiar image has attracted the artist by the meagreness of detailing for rather large work. Apparently, the unknown author of the original embroidery wanted to emphasize the significance of the figure of the world proletariat leader with the size of the portrait. However, he did not bother with the quality of elaboration.
This detail, in the best way possible, characterizes the Soviet system itself. The huge Soviet Union population was engaged in seemingly a fundamental matter ‒ the building of communism ‒ but it did it somehow carelessly, reluctantly.
Once, the leader of a formidable empire now looks not intimidating at all, surrounded by a kitsch frame and soft pompons, adding the image of a kind of eccentricity. Lenin looks at us through streams of blue tears, regretting his ideas' death due to undiligent followers.
In 2015 the Ukrainian government banned all symbols and images associated with the USSR. But numerous oil portraits, sculptures, monuments, and other images of Lenin began to be removed from public places decades before the "decommunization laws." What happened to the hundreds of thousands of portraits of former Soviet leader? Many of them are already destroyed. Some of them had been left in attics or basements. Oleksandr is looking for all these forgotten things and giving them a new life and new artistic content.
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Related themes
Oleksandr Balbyshev is a contemporary Ukrainian artist. The most important themes in Balbyshev’s art are male sexuality and sensuality. Artist wants the viewer to see the realm of ideas in faces and bodies, not only a realistic image of a human. He tries to combine in his paintings realities, as visions of worlds within worlds. They show us an image of ourselves and also hint that there is more to us than we know.
Oleksandr Balbyshev is famous for transforming classical Soviet-era portraits of Lenin into highly decorative and chaotic works of art. Artist finds original portraits and sculptures of Lenin made in the Soviet era on flea markets and on announcements on the Internet. He paints on top of old portraits of Lenin fragments from famous paintings or drip paint on them, cut the canvases into pieces and glue them in a chaotic manner, let them paint them for children, he paints the sculptures in funny colors and glues them with various objects. As a result of this artistic gesture, the artist erases the propaganda and ideological meanings of the image, at the same time endowing it with decorative qualities. However, with all the fun of this manipulation, the artwork acquires new meanings, an antinomical combination of play and seriousness, prompting the viewer to go beyond the accepted paradigm.
Oleksandr Balbyshev was born in 1985 in Ukraine. His paintings are in private collections in the USA, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, Netherlands, France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Portugal, Greece, Austria, Sweden, Finland, Czech Republic, Croatia, South Africa, Thailand, Singapore, Australia, Mexico, and Japan.
- Nationality: UKRAINE
- Date of birth : 1985
- Artistic domains:
- Groups: Ukrainian Contemporary Artists