Recycled Lenin #1 (2023) Painting by Oleksandr Balbyshev
- Oil on Canvas
- Dimensions 45.7x37.8 in
Dimensions of the work alone, without framing: Height 39.4in, Width 31.5in - Artwork's condition The artwork is in perfect condition
- Framing This artwork is framed
- Categories Men portraits
For many Ukrainians who, like me, share Western values, Lenin is a dictator and murderer who initiated an occupation of my country in 1917-1921. From that time until 1991, Ukraine wasn't free.
Even now, like numerous old soviet-era propagandistic images of Lenin, the ghost of a monster country called the USSR is still here. Lenin's successor from the Kremlin tries to destroy an independent Ukraine and pull it into Moscow's deadly hug.
In my art project, I try to overcome my country's traumatic historical experience by transforming the USSR's sinister shards into something funny and not scary. I try to show that we can defeat even the strongest evil. But even in a case of a win, we must be alert to prevent the enemy from rising again.
The canvas is a little damaged.
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, , Netherlands, , 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
Oleksandr Balbyshev, bright paintings 
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