Leonid Kolibaba. Sculpture and Drawings

This exhibition will acquaint visitors with the work of Leonid Kolibaba, a renowned St. Petersburg-based sculptor, graphic artist and educator, and member of the Ozerki Artists’ Village informal art group. It will spotlight approximately 70 of the artist’s sculptures and graphic artworks from over the years, exploring his most frequently revisited subjects: people’s everyday lives and the world they live in. The works are of a philosophical and mythological bent, focusing on themes such as history, war, power and faith, and invoking images of Christian saints, literary characters, and his contemporaries. Kolibaba accords a special place in his art to the subject of maternity and the image of Isis, which he uses in multiple permutations as a symbol of “the beginning of all beginnings”, encompassing all stages of human life from conception to death. Through images with multiple meanings, Kolibaba also explores inviolable spiritual truths in his series of watercolours, monotypes and mixed media works.

Leonid Kolibaba’s thematic series draw on ancient mythology and folklore, with allegoric images filled with the earthly and cosmic energies that sustain the world of living nature. This goes a long way towards explaining Kolibaba’s love of wood, a medium most conducive to an object’s harmonious interaction with the environment.

Improvement Committee of St. Petersburg, ANO Free Artists of St. Petersburg and Logistic group "Admiral" has assisted in making this exhibition possible.