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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Lifestyle
Andrew Roth

Ilya Kabakov, ex-Soviet conceptual artist, dies aged 89

Ilya Kabakov standing in a studio with works on the walls and stacked on trolleys
Ilya Kabakov worked in Moscow as a book illustrator while secretly meeting fellow conceptual artists to discuss and exhibit independent works. Photograph: Tim Knox/The Guardian

Ilya Kabakov, a Ukrainian-born conceptual artist considered to be one of the most influential of the Soviet Union, has died at the age of 89.

Kabakov created dozens of whimsical albums with imaginary, often impossible stories set in the drab but re-stylised surroundings of his Soviet past. He later transformed them into installations, including one about a man who slingshots himself through the roof of his communal flat in order to reach the moon.

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