The artist and writer Vagrich Bakhchanyan has died in New York, aged 72 (Radio Svoboda, in Russian) (thanks, AB and several other readers). There is a good choice of web resources, but this seems particularly good, uniting images, reminiscences and aphorisms (samizdat.zaraz). Bakhchanyan had been suffering for months from a neurological disorder that led to him hearing loud unstoppable screams; it is reported that he committed suicide. IZO reader Mark Kelner writes:
He was a rare example of an artist who was open, warm and loving in life, as he was talented, imaginative and a true non-conformist in art. A true one-of-a-kind, I feel he was under-represented if only because he chose to use paper instead of canvas, which collectors seem to appreciate more. I like to think that he was simply ahead of the curve and that the world will catch up with his ideas in my lifetime, but sadly not in his.
Below, a Bakhchanyan that formed part of the Forbidden Art show (IZO). When it was made, in the 1980s, it was risky because the satire directed at Lenin; nowadays, in Russia, the problem is the image of Christ.
UPDATE: a late work: the ears refer to the noises he was hearing towards the end of his life; photo by Bakhchanyan's wife, Irene.
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