'Ilya Kabakov, ex-Soviet conceptual artist, dies aged 89' 'Ukrainian-born artist who turned whimsical albums into installations with wife and collaborator, Emilia'

Ilya Kabakov, a Ukrainian-born conceptual artist considered to be one of the most influential of the Soviet Union, has died at the age of 89.

Kabakov created dozens of whimsical albums with imaginary, often impossible stories set in the drab but re-stylised surroundings of his Soviet past. He later transformed them into installations, including one about a man who slingshots himself through the roof of his communal flat in order to reach the moon.

The installations lifted Kabakov to international prominence. Emilia, his collaborator and wife, described his worlds to the Guardian in 2018 as the “little heavens we make in our larger hells”. (...)

His copious illustrations, albums and other works were ubiquitous. Last year, Kabakov’s 1984 schoolbook drawing of ships imposed over the words “go fuck yourself”, was adopted by Russia’s opponents after a famous standoff between Ukrainian soldiers on Snake Island and a Russian warship.

Kabakov, who was born in Dnepropetrovsk (now Dnipro), in Ukraine, in 1933, was one of a team of pioneering artists to work in Moscow during the 1970s and 80s, living as a book illustrator while secretly meeting with a circle of conceptual artists to discuss and exhibit their own independent works.

Kabakov focused on the places – the Soviet homes, businesses and other settings – that he could use as the backdrop for stories about people often striving for a different type of life.

In the late 80s, he emigrated to Long Island, in the US, and remained a prolific artist with Emilia into his 80s. (...)