Alina Pinsky Gallery Highlights the Work of Igor Chelkovski
In Paris, the Alina Pinsky Gallery is presenting an exhibition dedicated to Igor Chelkovski (born in 1937), one of the major figures of Soviet non-conformism and contemporary Russian art. Based in France since 1976, Chelkovski has made a name for himself with his sculptures, reliefs and public art installations. For several decades, he has been exploring visual language, addressing universal and abstract themes such as nature, the city and humanity. Developed in collaboration with Bernard Blistène, honorary director of the Musée National d’Art Moderne-Centre Pompidou, the exhibition offers a retrospective of his work. It brings together his major series since his creations in the 1970s, while also including his most recent works.
Since 1961, Igor Chelkovski has methodically explored the potential of sculpture, combining a minimalist, abstract language with imagery imbued with romanticism. In his works, abstraction paradoxically stems from reality, which reveals itself to be a collection of abstractions. During this same period, driven by a passion for sculpture, he devoted himself to developing his own artistic idiom and joined the Moscow circle of so-called ‘non-conformist’ artists. In the 1960s, after training in painting, drawing and theatre, Chelkovski devoted himself to the restoration of icons and frescoes. His use of wood as his preferred material marked the starting point for the series that would unfold over the next seven decades.
At the opening, we met gallery owner Alina Pinsky, alongside curator Bernard Blistène, as well as Nicolas Liucci-Goutnikov, Thibaut Wychowanok, Jacqueline Frydman, and others.
Photos: Ayka Lux
