Scene 19 (plate, folio 60) from The Dream of Abu-Said and Wind
Ilya Kabakov
American, born Russia. 1933–2023
1957-1990
A small linoleum cut, lightly hand-colored with pencil, in which Kabakov stages a solitary, nude figure enclosed beneath a shower of blue as if caught in a private, dreamlike moment.
What hits you first is the childlike, almost icon-like figure cradled inside a teardrop of blue light beneath a stark showerhead, the tiny image mounted on a broad gray sheet with handwritten notes that make it feel like a page from an artist’s journal or a stage cue.
The work converts a modest folk-print technique into a narrative fragment that links private vulnerability and everyday Soviet interiors to Kabakov’s larger practice of storytelling and conceptual installation art.
Medium
Linoleum cut, printed in color, with blue and black pencil additions
Dimensions
irreg. composition 7 x 4 1/2" (17.8 x 11.4 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Gift of Emilia Kanevsky and the artist
Accession
289.1991.19
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
