Alexander Aksinin (2 October 1949 – 3 May 1985) was a Soviet

printmaker Printmaking is the process of creating work of art, artworks by printing, normally on paper, but also on fabric, wood, metal, and other surfaces. "Traditional printmaking" normally covers only the process of creating prints using a hand proce ...

and

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

. His sophisticated etching technique, precision and perfectionist attention to details earned him the sobriquet the “ Dürer of Lviv”. Art critics hailed him as “a 20th century

Piranesi Giovanni Battista (or Giambattista) Piranesi (; also known as simply Piranesi; 4 October 1720 – 9 November 1778) was an Italian Classical archaeologist, architect, and artist, famous for his etchings of Rome and of fictitious and atmospheric ...

” for his dramatic and elaborate constructs.

Early life and education

Alexander Aksinin was born to military cartographer Dmitriy Aksinin and railroad official Ludmila Aksinina. In 1972 he graduated from the Ukrainian Institute of Printing, where he specialized in Graphics Arts.

Career

From 1972 to 1977, Aksinin worked as an art editor in a publishing house, served in the

Soviet army uk, Радянська армія , image = File:Communist star with golden border and red rims.svg , alt = , caption = Emblem of the Soviet Army , start_date ...

and then worked as an art designer in an industrial design office. After 1977, he focused entirely on his art, in particular in the fields of printed and drawn graphics. Aksinin's solo exhibitions were held in

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju ' ...

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

(1979, 1986), Lodz,

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

(1981, 1985),

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

(1984), Lvov (1987) and others. He also took part in various group exhibitions in the USSR and abroad.

Death

On 3 May 1985, on his way back from

, Alexander Aksinin died in a plane crash near

Zolochiv Zolochiv, ( ua, Золочів) may refer to the following places in Ukraine: * Zolochiv, Lviv Oblast, city in Lviv Oblast * Zolochiv, Kharkiv Oblast, urban-type settlement in Ukraine {{set index, populated places in Ukraine ...

, close to

Lviv Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukraine ...

Art

A. Aksinin made 343 printed graphics including 3 unfinished works (mainly

etching Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other types ...

), about 200 unique drawn graphics in mixed techniques (

gouache Gouache (; ), body color, or opaque watercolor is a water-medium paint consisting of natural pigment, water, a binding agent (usually gum arabic or dextrin), and sometimes additional inert material. Gouache is designed to be opaque. Gouache h ...

, India ink, color ink), as well as five oil paintings.

Exhibitions

Aksinin regularly participated in the International Biennale of Small Graphics Forms in

Łódź Łódź, also rendered in English as Lodz, is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located approximately south-west of Warsaw. The city's coat of arms is an example of canti ...

(Poland), where he was awarded Honorable Medals in 1979 and 1985. In 2015 his etching series "Boschiana" was included in the permanent exposition of the Jheronimus Bosch Art Center in

's-Hertogenbosch s-Hertogenbosch (), colloquially known as Den Bosch (), is a city and municipality in the Netherlands with a population of 157,486. It is the capital of the province of North Brabant and its fourth largest by population. The city is south of th ...

in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. * 2017 Aksinin's Labyrinths.

National Art Museum of Ukraine The National Art Museum of Ukraine ( uk, Національний Художній Музей України) is a museum dedicated to Ukrainian art in Kyiv, Ukraine. History The National Art Museum of Ukraine, which was the first museum in Ky ...

, Kyiv, Ukraine * 2014 Alexander Aksinin. Methagraphics: The Insight Experience.

Lviv National Art Gallery Borys Voznytsky Lviv National Art Gallery ( uk, Львівська Національна Галерея Мистецтв імені Бориса Возницького) is the largest art museum in Ukraine, with over 62,000 artworks in its colle ...

, Lviv, Ukraine * 2013 Poetics of the Absurd, Gallery la Brique, Frankfurt, Germany * 2012 Metagraphics: Alexander Aksinin. Gallery Pionova, Gdansk, Poland *Aks-Art & Aks-Libris. Exlibris Gallery, Warsaw, Poland * 2010 Aksinin. Excessus. Gallery Vata, Rostov-on-Don, Russia *Alexander Aksinin. National Center for Contemporary Art, Moscow, Russia * 2009 Alexander Aksinin: The Inner Experience. Art Gallery Primus, Lviv, Ukraine * 2008 Aksinin: Eternal Books - Visual Images. Exhibition Hall of Don State Public Library, Rostov-on-Don, Russia * 2008 Time-Space-Eternity. The State Museum of A.Pushkin, Moscow, Russia * 2006 Alexander Aksinin. Day R. Museum of Contemporary Visual Art on Dmitrovskoy, Rostov-on-Don, Russia * 2001 Alexander Aksinin's Etchings. Gallery Dzyga, Lviv, Ukraine * 1992 Central House of Artists, Moscow, Russia * 1991 Museum of Russian Art, Kiev, Ukraine * 1988 66 Etchings of Alexander Aksinin from private collections. Gallery of Graphics and Drawings, Gdynia, Poland; Muzeum Zamkowe, Malbork, Poland * 1987 Museum of Ukrainian Art, Lviv, Ukraine * 1985 Gallery In Blanco, Łódź, Poland * 1985 Art Saloon, Tallinn, Estonia * 1984 Gallery of Contemporary Soviet Art, Warsaw, Poland * 1981 January — Gallery Bałucka, Łódź, Poland * 1979 Estonian State Art Institute, Tallinn, Estonia

References

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aksinin, Alexander 1949 births 1985 deaths Artists from Lviv Modern printmakers Ukrainian contemporary artists Russian contemporary artists Ukrainian printmakers Russian printmakers Ukrainian etchers Russian etchers Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Ukraine Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in the Soviet Union