NEW YORK, NY.- The Ukrainian Museum New York is pleased to announce the inaugural solo exhibition of Vladimir Tatlin抯 work in North America, entitled Tatlin: Kyiv, running from February 7朅pril 27, 2025.
Vladimir Tatlin (Ukrainian: Volodymyr), the prominent avant-garde artist, and founder of Constructivism, was born in Kharkiv, Ukraine and lived and worked in Kyiv from 1925 until 1927.
This pioneering exhibition recreates the artist抯 Kyiv studio and chronicle the work made during this period within the museum space, depicting the actual environment in which his art was conceived and created for the very first time.
Tatlin: Kyiv serves as an educational catalyst for the decolonization of Ukrainian art through the lens of Tatlin抯 work, contributing to the preservation of Ukrainian history and cultural discourse.
Tatlin made significant contributions to the world of art, design and architecture through his seminal vision. While he inspired generations of artists, many of whom are now showcased around the world, his work is rarely organised as solo exhibitions. Due to Tatlin抯 conceptual and ephemeral process, many of his original works no longer exist, except as later reconstructions.
In addition to the replica of Tatlin抯 Kyiv studio, the exhibition remade his stage and podium for the Kyiv Art Institute抯 tenth anniversary in 1927, as well as the first prototype constructions of his storied flying apparatus Letatlin. This major work was conceived after the artist found a stork with a damaged wing which he took to his studio for care. The stork would go on to live in Tatlin抯 loft, inspiring the early designs depicted within the exhibition.
The first versions of Letatlin consisted of a body basket for the human operator, engineered of willow branches and bent wood with wings spanning almost 10 meters (33 feet) across, sheathed with parachute silk. The bird-shaped machine was held together with steel cables, leather and whalebone; custom-made metal bearings ensured efficient movement. Constructed as a glider but with wings that can achieve three kinds of movements that resemble those of a bird抯, Tatlin hoped that future humans would be able to move around freely in the airspace.
Tatlin抯 illustration and design work with local Kyiv journals, book publishers, and theatre productions are highlighted for the first time. Additionally, the works of artists who studied under Tatlin at the Kyiv Institute of Art, where he taught a multi-disciplinary class which combined sculpture, film, and photography, are on show.
Tatlin: Kyiv reexamines a major gap in the discourse of art history to include Tatlin抯 work of the late 1920s. Despite periods of obscurity after 1940, Tatlin抯 legacy endured, and he has been celebrated as the first conceptual artist of the 20th Century, yet his Ukrainian identity remains widely unrecognised. This exhibition and the accompanying catalogue restore Tatlin抯 Ukrainian context. The project underscores Tatlin抯 significance as an artist and as a symbol of Ukrainian cultural heritage.
Peter Doroshenko, Director and curator of the exhibition, states, 揟atlin抯 two years in Kyiv in the late 1920s was the most productive and little-known time period in his career. He embraced his Ukrainian heritage and embedded his culture into his art making. This exhibition and its catalogue focus on rectifying the misconception of his nationality and elevate his status as a proud Ukrainian artist.
A 122-page catalogue published by Rodovid Press in Kyiv will accompany the exhibition. Essays by art historians Peter Doroshenko, Tatyana Filevska, and Oksana Semenik, will expand our understanding of Tatlin抯 work in Ukraine.
