| Eugene Abeshaus is famous
both in the former USSR and in the west. Born in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg)
in 1939, he graduated from the V. Mukhina Institute of Arts and Industrial
Design in that city, In 1976, after several years as a "refusenik", he
immigrated to Israel.
The name Abeshaus was first known in the mid-70s, when he founded and headed the art group "Aleph”, a circle of Jewish artists from Leningrad, and a part of the unofficial art stream in Brezhnev‘s time. Unofficial art first appeared in the mid-50s, after Stalin‘s death, and was non-conformist by nature, It opposed the aesthetics of the formal socialist realism which was already a pejorative term for banality amongst-the creative intelligentsia for a long time. It was not possible, in those years, for any of the non-conformist artists to exhibit their works in state galleries, In the early 60s they initiated the idea of unofficial shows in parks and public places on the outskirts of Moscow and Leningrad, as well as in private studios and apartments, Under that category fell also the 12 Jewish artists from Leningrad first exhibition of paintings, sculptures, and graphic art at Abeshause’s apartment in November 1975. Another one was held in Moscow in December of the same year. These exhibitions were an immediate success. They were not only an artistic innovation but a political act of dissidence and independence as well. First, because the artists openly proclaimed their Jewishness, and focused on Jewish themes, which was an act severely prohibited by the authorities and rejected by Socialist Realism. Second, they used an artistic language, which was not accepted by the official style. The above activity was supported by the "Committee for The Defence of Soviet Jews" in San Francisco. Life-size photographs of the artists, were put up next to the main gate of Berkeley University, and in 1976 the Berkeley Jewish Museum held a documentary photo exhibition under the title "12 from the Soviet Underground”, The slides for that exhibition were sent from the USSR by Eugene Abeshaus himself. In those years all activities of unofficial artistic groups were quite dangerous, since it was seen by the Soviet authorities as a severe crime. Exhibitions were banned before opening night, works of art were confiscated and their authors arrested or investigated by the KGB, One exhibition, the famous Moscow "Bulldozer Exhibition”, was brutally destroyed with "advanced" equipment, in 1974. Later came the "Expulsion from Eden", where artists were exiled and stripped of their citizenship, or the "Descending into Hell", where artists were jailed in labor camps and mental hospitals, or exiled, Following the exhibitions, Eugene and some of his colleagues were fired from work. In 1976 almost all the "Aleph" group emigrated to Israel or the USA. After 20 years of life in Israel, in a totally different environment, after many travels and exhibitions all around the world, Abeshaus became a "citizen of the world", influenced by many cultures. His later artistic language is an original fusion of western post-modern attributes, decorative elements from the many millennium of Eastern Mediterranean art, motives of world art and Russian mentality. Selected One Person Exhibitions
Selected Croup Exhibitions
Awards
|