Alexander (Oleksandr) Aksinin: Strange Kingdoms
A Ukrainian Master of Prints.
Alexander Aksinin was an outstanding artist and master printer. He was born in 1949 in Lviv, Ukraine, and was killed in a plane crash nearby, in 1985, aged only 36. During his lifetime he was known mostly within the Soviet Union. In the 1970s and 1980s, he exhibited in museums and galleries throughout Ukraine, the USSR and eastern Europe — his only international solo exhibition was held in Lodz, Poland, in 1981. Since his death, his works have been exhibited in museums throughout Europe and are today included among the world's major collections.
Aksinin employed mostly etching techniques. He applied wax onto a metal plate, then drew on it with an etching needle, then dipped the plate in acid. The acid corrodes the exposed parts of the metal, thus fixing the design. The plate is then covered in ink, which fills the incised lines and is transferred to paper using a printing press. At times, he added touches of watercolor or gouache to the etchings. The prints were produced in dense textures, rich in details that could often be discerned only with the use of a magnifying glass.
Aksinin often drew inspiration from literature. Prominent among the works featured here are etchings from the series "Jonathan Swift's Kingdom of Absurdities" (1977—1978), referring to a chapter from Swift's 1726 novel Gulliver's Travels. The work has been interpreted as a satire about Swift's times, but it is universal and pertinent to our days, too. The series "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" (1976—1977), inspired by Lewis Carrol's book, is another example of Aksinin's unique style, which combines magical, semi-realistic figures, like fantasy tales replete with detail, irony and absurd. Aksinin's work abounds with images, some human, teeming under the surface, immersed in hopeless, existential anxiety.
Among the exhibited works are Ex Libris bookplates — small prints denoting ownership of books. Aksinin dedicated these bookplates, often featuring magic and astrology themes, to friends and acquaintances.
Aksinin's prints are reminiscent of the works of Albrecht Dürer, Hieronymus Bosch and Giovanni Battista Piranesi, especially the latter's series "Imaginary Prisons." Tel Aviv Museum of Art is delighted to present Aksinin's work for the first time to the Israeli public, in an exhibition that features just a fraction of the wealth of his timeless oeuvre.
The works are courtesy of a private collection, Tel Aviv
The Wall, 1977, sheet 4 from the series “Alice's Adventures in Wonderland,” 1976—1977
Eching