Ilya Kabakov

• Name — Ilya Kabakov • Born — 30 September 1933 • Birthplace — Dnipropetrovsk, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union • Died — 27 May 2023 • Place of death — New York, U.S. • Field — Installation art • Website — http: www.kabakov.net

Ilya Iosifovich Kabakov was born on September 30, 1933, in Dnipropetrovsk. His mother, accountant Bertha Judelevna Solodukhina, and his father, locksmith Iosif Bentcionovitch Kabakov, were Jewish. Ilya was evacuated during World War II to Samarkand with his parents. There he started attending the school of the Leningrad Academy of Art. His classmates included the painter Mikhail Turovsky. At 18, he moved to Moscow to attend the Surikov Art Institute, where he graduated with a specialty in graphic design and book illustration.

section • Illustration — Kabakov gives instructions for the installation "The Man Who will Fly into Space From His Apartment" in 2016 • Illustration — The fallen Chandelier in Zürich Unlike many underground Soviet artists, Kabakov joined the Union of Soviet Artists in 1959 and became a full member in 1962. This was a prestigious position in the USSR and it brought with it substantial material benefits. In general, Kabakov illustrated children's books for 3 to 6 months a year and then spent the remainder of his time on his own projects. In the art scene of 1970s Moscow, Ilya Kabakov's talent found a champion in Dina Vierny, a gallerist. Vierny, after a visit in Moscow in the early 1970s, committed to supporting artists resisting the constraints of socialist realism, discovered Kabakov. The meeting occurred on the evening of January 16, 1970, when Vierny recognized and appreciated Kabakov as an artist of originality, despite being unknown and prohibited from exhibiting in Moscow. Vierny's interest in Kabakov's work endured for over 27 years. Despite Kabakov's infrequent exhibitions in Moscow, his drawings captivated international audiences. Vierny encouraged Kabakov to leave the Soviet Union for broader recognition, and supported him by acquiring a substantial number of his works. This support was not limited to Kabakov alone; Vierny, upon her return, brought back works by other non-conformist artists such as Erik Boulatov and Vladimir Yankilevsky, known as the Group of Boulevard Sretensky. Together, these artists, despite differing styles, shared a common struggle against state-imposed artistic limitations, particularly the constraints of socialist realism. Vierny's commitment culminated in the exhibition "Russian Avant-Garde - Moscow 1973" at her Saint-Germain-des-Prés gallery, showcasing the diverse yet united front of non-conformist artists challenging the artistic norms of their time. Between 1983 and 2000, Kabakov created 155 installations. Of these, one of the best known installations is The Man Who Flew Into Space From His Apartment. First created in 1985 in a secret attic studio in Moscow, Kabakov later recreated the piece in the United States at Ronald Feldman Gallery in 1988. The installation portrays a small, run-down bedroom with a large hole in the ceiling and propaganda photos covering the walls. The exhibition was widely reviewed, securing Kabakov's reputation in the New York art world.

Kabakov emigrated to Austria in 1987, then the United States in 1988, following the gradual exhibition of his works in the West. A year after arriving in New York, he met curator and dealer Emilia Kanevsky, who was also his niece; they married in 1992. For three decades, the couple collaborated on numerous exhibitions, including Documenta in 1992, the Venice Biennale in 1993, the Whitney Biennial in 1997, the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg in 2004, and the Tate Modern and the Hirshhorn in 2017. Kabakov died on May 27, 2023, at the age of 89. He had one daughter and four grandchildren.

• Illustration — "Tomorrow We Fly", exhibition in the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, 2023 Following Mikhail Chemiakin's 1995 show, Ilya Kabakov had one of the first major solo exhibitions of a living Russian artist at the new State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg in 2004. His works are included in the collections of the Zimmerli Art Museum, the Centre Pompidou, Museum of Modern Art, Guggenheim Museum, The Hermitage, Tretjakov Gallery, Norway Museum Of Contemporary Art, the Kolodzei Art Foundation and various international institutions. In 2017, the Tate Modern in London exhibited Ilya and Emilia Kabakov: Not Everyone Will Be Taken Into the Future and the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, D.C. set up an exhibition Ilya and Emilia Kabakov: The Utopian Projects. National Museum of Norway (Norway) has "Søppelmannen" ['the garbage man'] on permanent display.

He also worked under the names Kabakov, Ilya and Kabakov, Emilia. The authorities additionally record the headings Ilya Iosifovich Kabakov, Il︠i︡a Iosifovich Kabakov, Il'ya Kabakov, Ilja Jossifowitsch Kabakow and Ilya Iossifovich Kabakov. His recorded languages were Russian and English. He married Emilia Kabakov. One child is recorded: Galina Kabakova.

Ilya Kabakov worked in installation artwork and conceptual art. His work is associated with abstract art. He belonged to European Academy of Sciences and Arts, Jan Fabre & Ilya Kabakov and Ilya & Emilia Kabakov. He worked at Moscow, Graz, Berlin and United States.