Sergei Shablavin, b.1944

Sergei Shablavin was born in Kirsanov in 1944 and after graduating from the Faculty of Cybernetics in the Moscow Institute of Physical Engineering he took private art lessons.  It was around this time in 1967 when he was first introduced to Erik Bulatov, Ilya Kabakov and Oleg Vasilev.  Together they formed the Stretensky Boulevard Group, named after the street in which they lived.  In 1977 Shablavin participated in the Venice and Turin Biennales.

Like Bulatov and Vasilev, Shablavin’s work employs strong graphics. He first painted hyper-realistic Russian landscapes then distorted them, creating a form of optical illusion.  Shablavin started working on circular canvases in the 1970s and it has since become part of his signature style. 

In Moscow, the artist accurately manages to convey the wide expanses of the city, showing the bleak urban landscape across the horizontal.  This contrasts very effectively with the rural view painted along a vertical line.  It is possible the artist is trying to make a statement about the rapid urbanisation and spread of the city suburbs which took place at this time.