VLADI RETURNS HOME Automatic translate

On the occasion of the 125th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Mexico and Russia in the All-Russian Museum of Decorative, Applied and Folk Art with the support of the Embassy of Mexico in Moscow, the exhibition of the artist Vladimir Kibalchich "Vladi" (1920 - 2005) opens. The exposition of 32 graphic works is dedicated to the 10th anniversary of the death of the master. The works selected for the exhibition are recognized as the cultural heritage of Mexico and are stored in the National Institute of Fine Arts.

Vladimir Viktorovich Kibalchich was born in Petrograd in 1920 in the family of a French-speaking writer, known under the pseudonym Victor Serge. In 1933, the future artist, together with his parents, was exiled to Orenburg, where his father was expelled, as one of the representatives of the “Left Opposition”. In 1936, the Kibalchichs were allowed to leave the country. After a short stay in Belgium, the family moved to France, where the young man began to engage in color lithography and participate in exhibitions under the pseudonym “Vladi”. Subsequently, the artist settled in Mexico, where he lived for more than fifty years and became famous mainly as a master of monumental art: nowadays, Vladi’s works adorn libraries, temples, university buildings and presidential palaces in many countries of the western hemisphere. The artist also created a large number of easel works.

In the work of Vladi graphic techniques occupy a special place. The high skill of the artist allows you to convey a complex movement full of intense expression, to use expressive contrasts of black and white, to create a certain emotional state. So, David Siqueiros called Vladi "the genius of light and shadow." The works presented at the exhibition are dominated by an emotionally-sensual theme conveyed in intense, full expression forms that arise as associations, memories, even dreams. “I express my inner world,” said the artist.

Vladi received wide international recognition: he became a holder of the Order of Literature and Art of France, in 2000 was recognized in Mexico as a man of the millennium in the field of fine arts, a permanent exhibition of the Museum of Modern Art in Montreal is devoted to his work. Despite the well-deserved recognition, until the mid-1990s, Vladi was practically unknown at home. The master often repeated that he would like to return to the Russian audience through the city of childhood and the links of his and his father - Orenburg. The first major exhibition of his etchings took place in Orenburg, and later - at the Russian Academy of Arts (in 2002, the artist was elected its honorary member).

At the exhibition at the All-Russian Museum of Decorative, Applied and Folk Art “Vladi returns home”, watercolors, charcoal and ink drawings created from 1957 to 1980, as well as a documentary about the artist’s life and work, are presented.