"The house I live in ..." Exhibition of works by Yuri Abisalov

The Russian Academy of Arts presents an exhibition of works by the Honored Artist of North Ossetia Alania, Honored Artist of Russia, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Arts Yuri Abisalov "The House I Live in…". The exhibition features 25 paintings by the author, performed in recent years. Some of the works of one of the most prominent representatives in modern art of Ossetia will be shown to the public for the first time.

Yuri Khadzhimuratovich Abisalov was born in 1957 in Vladikavkaz, where he constantly lives and works. He graduated from the Vladikavkaz art school. Then he studied at the Leningrad Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. I. E. Repin, in the workshop of easel painting under the guidance of Yu. M. Neprintsev. The artist conducts active creative, pedagogical and social activities.

Yuri Abisalov develops national artistic traditions, and works in various genres, but his multi-figured thematic compositions deserve special attention. The artist’s works are recognized in a professional environment, as well as invariably arouse wide spectator interest and have been repeatedly awarded with diplomas and honorary awards. In 2012, the author became a laureate of the State Prize. Costa Khetagurova in the field of art.

Abisalov is a participant in regional, national and foreign exhibitions, international art salons and fairs. The artist’s works are in the collections of the State Tretyakov Gallery, the Art Museum. M.S. Tuganova, as well as in private collections in Russia, France, Germany, Great Britain, Japan, Spain, Switzerland, Belgium, Hungary and the USA.

According to experts, Abisalov’s authorial style is a peculiar artistic phenomenon in the art of modern Ossetia. The professional formation of the author’s artistic method took place at a special historical moment - a period of social upheaval and great hopes of the 1980-1990s. Talent, artistic erudition and mastery allowed Yuri Abisalov to derive a certain formula of style, which harmoniously combined the images of the modern life of Ossetians, the recent past, the world of traditional culture that eluded us, and eternal biblical stories.

The world that the artist creates in his works can be called the space of the spiritual memory of the ethnos. Being deeply symbolic, intellectual, and multi-layered, the artistic language created by Abisalov is at the same time moderately ironic and easily understood, which explains its popularity among the widest audience. It was this unique language and bright personality that allowed the artist to create a gallery of images that placed him among the most significant contemporary masters of the Ossetian school of painting.

In his work, the images and symbols of national consciousness, traditional culture found a talented and reliable plastic embodiment, understandable not only in his homeland, but also far beyond its borders.

The text is based on an article by art critic M.E. Ataeva.