Relinking - Kabakov Cabinet

Recently the Van Abbemuseum acquired all the graphic work and two paintings by Ilya (born 1933) and Emilia (born 1945) Kabakov This exhibition presents a selection of these works in combination with works from the collection.

Ilya and Emilia Kabakov were both born in the Soviet Union and live and work in the United States. Since 1988 they have worked together. Before that time Ilya Kabakov worked under his own name. He started off as an illustrator of children’s books in the Soviet Union. Later he developed in the field of conceptual art and installations. His work is poetic, full of humor and social critique. It is exhibited all over the world.

LS Collection

Relinking also displays publications from the LS Collection. This special collection of Russian art books was donated to the Van Abbemuseum and contains publications with the early work of Ilya Kabakov.

The relationship between Ilya and Emilia Kabakov and the Van Abbemuseum goes back to the exhibition: Lissitzky-Kabakov: Utopie en Werkelijkheid (Lissitzky-Kabakov: Utopia and Reality) (2012). That exhibition, compiled by the Kabakovs, combined work by El Lissitzky (1890-1941) and their work. In this way they brought together art from the period at the start of the Soviet Union and art made at the end of the Union. The Van Abbemuseum has one of the largest collections of Lissitzky’s work in the world.

The acquisition is supported by Stichting Promotors.

This exhibition is part of the series Relinking, which encourages visitors to revisit the current collection presentation Delinking and Relinking with a different, critical perspective. In the series Relinking, the museum presents proposals for new additions to the collection.