Ilya & Emilia Kabakov: 10 Albums by Ilya Kabakov

Ilya Kabakov's artistic career has been going on for almost half a century. Born in 1933 in Dnepropetrovsk, the artist has been working and living in the West since 1988. From the same year, the artist's triumphal march begins through the most important exhibition places in the world, where he creates primarily his installations. The list of places that presented Ilya Kabakov's work includes the Museum of Modern Art, the Jewish Museum and Ronald Feldman Fine Arts in New York, the Kunstmuseum in Bern, the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow, the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, Donald Judd's Chinati Foundation in Marfa or Tate Gallery in London.

Since 1989, the artist has been working together with his wife Emilia. For over ten years, many exhibitions have been signed by them together. Also the first Polish presentation 10 Albums by Ilya Kabakova In Atlas Sztuki is signed by both artists, despite the fact that the author of the presented works is Ilya. In an interesting conversation with Ilya and Emilia Kabakov, Tomasz Załuski, Emilia Kabakov says: "My name does not co-sign Ilya's previous productions, because although I visited his studio before, I had nothing to do with the works themselves. The names of both of us appear only in the title of the current presentation 10 Albums, because as such, this presentation is one of the manifestations of our cooperation". That's true. Preparing a presentation for over a year 10 Albums In Atlas Sztuki, I know how much Emilia did to make it happen. She was the one who corresponded, we often talked on the phone. Thanks to her favor and cordiality, all important and difficult issues could be solved. Ilya Kabakov himself does not want to reveal the character and degree of cooperation with his wife. He says: "This is our secret and we want it to stay that way." I think it is obvious not only to me that without the mutual cooperation of artists, Emilia's huge commitment and openness, Ilya Kabakov's creative path after 1989 would look completely different. In this catalogue, next to the aforementioned record of Tomasz Załuski's conversation with Ilya and Emilia Kabakov, I highly recommend reading the text about the artist's work by Tomasz Gryglewicz.

In conclusion, I would like to express my gratitude to Mr. Piotr Nowicki for his interest in Ilya Kabakov's work.