Ilya & Emilia Kabakov: An Alternative History of Art

by Björn Egging, Emilia Kabakov, Thomas Kellein

Counterfactual history is the subject of this catalogue from Ilya Kabakov, a leading figure in installation art and arguably the most important living Russian artist, who often collaborates with his wife, Emilia. Here, through the artwork of three fictitious Russians, including one named Ilya Kabakov, the artist imagines an alternative outcome to the Soviet experiment, one that embraces the populist spirit and idealized subjects of socialist realism and the utopian symbolism of abstraction. In the exhibition The Teacher and the Charles Rosenthal and Ilya Kabakov ," two imaginary characters confront art historical and museological the model of the provincial artist; the nature of the museum retrospective; and the epoch of the avant-garde. The catalogue function wryly as history lesson, morality tale, social critique, and personal homage for an artist who has witnessed the failed utopian experiment of the Soviet Union, both as citizens and émigrés. Edited by Thomas Kellein and Bjoern Egging. Essays by Jill Snyder, Amei Wallach, Robert Storr, Rosalie Solow, Boris Groys, Margarita & Victor Tupitsyn, Matthew Jesse Jackson and Yusuke Nakahmara. Hardcover, 9.5 x 11.5 in./270 pgs / 260 color and 25 b&w.

270 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 2005