Tabenkin Lev
Year:	1952
School:	Russian contemporary Art

Considering this fabulous painter, we might wonder if greatness in art is familial, even though history seems to reject such a notion. Whatever else, LEV ILYICH TABENKIN (b.1952) is an exception to the rule. His father, Ilya Tabenkin, was a brilliant Russian artist, fated to struggle not only for his professional survival but for life itself inside a paranoid state that sentenced him to the Gulag Archipelago. Ilya not only survived but prevailed - to paraphrase William Faulkner. His son, Lev Ilyich Tabenkin, also became a leading Russian artist. He graduated from Moscow's Polygraphic Institute in 1975. However, his art education actually began as a child. By age 14 he was painting with oil. And like his illustrious father, Lev is profoundly thoughtful and "lustfully" independent ["lusting for freedom," he said]. His work is expressed in dramatic and powerful style [Expressionism]. Driven by mystical muses, Tabenkin paints man without boundaries. His zany conventions are meant to provoke, not confuse. [So look very slowly and think very fast!] What is the meaning of birds in the head [Fantasy]? The artist is known for extremely bold brushstrokes, applied upon oversized canvas. His subjects are larger than life; his canvases - boundaries - appear much too small. Some say that Tabenkin is never political. I do not agree. Consider his concept of freedom, regard for victimized man and loathing for "alien force." Then look at his paintings! In his own words, freedom is always an issue: "a choice and conscious necessity." In a provocative manner, the Russian Jew likens these thoughts to the Biblical meaning of Christ, "a personal choice and responsibility to G-d." The artist concludes, "That is the essence of art." Exhibitions of Tabenkin's work have been held in Moscow, Paris, Toronto, Helsinki, USA, Brussels, Japan, Spain, Italy, Portugal and Hong Kong. His paintings are found in museums, galleries and private collections throughout the civilized world.