Ilya & Emilia Kabakov (Rabbits)

Figure 29: Little Rabbits

Limited edition offset prints, unframed
Signed and numbered in pencil from an edition of 50, 1993 – 1994
32cm x 44cm

(The Cyrillic text behind the image reads “IDI NA KHUI” roughly translated as “GO FUCK YOURSELF”)

THE ARTISTS ON THEIR WORK

“The prints were initially created to be part of another of our albums. A father decides to buy a coloring book as a present for his son. He goes to a store, buys the book and brings it home. The mother opens the package and suddenly she discovers that there are ‘bad words’ behind every drawing. ‘What is this?’ she asks. ‘Obviously someone is trying to corrupt my children! This was done by the enemies of our country!’ The father takes the book to the police. An investigation is started and it is discovered that the crime was committed by American spies. The books are all destroyed and everybody is alerted to the possibility of such provocations.” (Ilya and Emilia Kabakov).

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

Ilya (1933-2023) & Emilia Kabakov are Russian-born, American-based artists best known for their immersive environments or “total installations” that fuse Soviet-era symbols and histories with fictional narratives to address themes of personal and collective memory, political oppression, and emancipation. Working collaboratively since 1989, they also produce paintings, drawings and print albums that similarly address the failed utopias of Soviet culture and Western capitalism. See https://www.kabakov.net.

Read an interview with the artists published on ARTMargins here.

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