SaveSOFT LENIN
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| Year of creation | 2018 |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 66 W × 86 H × 8 D cm |
| Type of art | sculpture |
| Style | modern |
| Genre | portrait |
| Materials | Mixed method |
Description of the Artwork “SOFT LENIN”
The piece was made through the refinement of the embroidered portrait of Lenin of Soviet times.This peculiar image has attracted the artist by the meagreness of detailing for a rather large work.The unknown author of the original embroidery, apparently, wanted to emphasize the significance of the figure of the world proletariat leader with the size of the portrait, however, did not bother with the quality of elaboration. This detail in the best way possible characterizes the Soviet system itself. The population of the huge Soviet Union was engaged in seemingly a very important 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 lurid frame and soft pompons, adding the image of a kind of crankiness. Lenin looks at us through streams of blue tears, regretting the death of his ideas 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 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 a new artistic content.
Oleksandr Balbyshev, Ukraine
Oleksandr Balbyshev was born in 1985 in Ukraine, one of the biggest Soviet Republics. After graduating from The Prydniprovska State Academy of Civil Engineering and Architecture in 2012, he was working in the sphere of architecture and design. But he was disappointed in the chosen field. So in 2016 he quit to become an artist. Oleksandr currently lives and works in Dnipro, Ukraine. Male sexuality and sensuality are the most important themes in Oleksandr’s art. But it's a means rather than an end in itself. Artist wants 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. Another important part of Oleksandr’s art is to modify old Soviet-era portraits of Lenin. 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 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. His paintings are in private collections in USA, Canada, Great Britain, Germany, Netherlands, France, Italy, Spain, Greece, Sweden, Finland, South Africa, Thailand, Australia, Mexico and Ukraine.