Moscow and Berlin mourn the artist Vrubel

Olga Sviblova: “Dima was always very sincere in all his statements”

In Berlin, the Russian artist Dmitry Vrubel, who created the graffiti “Lord! Help me survive among this mortal love”, which have become a symbol of the era. The figure shows the two leaders of the Eastern bloc – the USSR and the GDR – Leonid Brezhnev and Erich Honecker. Dmitry Vrubel was only 62 years old, and he was killed by the plague of the 21st century – covid.

If Dmitry Vrubel on the Berlin Wall had not left a couple of party leaders in a close kiss, then he would have entered the history of modern art regardless of this historical image. A wonderful painter, smart, reflective and, most importantly, handy. He always knew why he was working, what was behind his statement and why it was made.

On the wave of perestroika, the artist worked in Moscow, Paris, Berlin and other cities, and since 2010 he finally settled in Berlin, where he did not get lost in the artistic environment of this wonderful city, strong in its cultural traditions. He lived creatively restless, ahead of time, became part of the Russian artistic Berlin.

Together with his wife, artist Viktoria Timofeeva, he created an open workshop Vrubel + Timofeeva at the PANDA-Theater in the cultural center Kulturbrauerei.

“Of course, this is a big loss,” Olga Sviblova, director of the Multimedia Art Museum of Moscow, tells MK. “He has always been the center of attraction. For him, communication flows were important, he knew how to manage them. His last work, which I saw two years ago, was a joint installation with Viktoria Timofeeva as part of the Thicket project in the Moscow region.

Dima was in excellent working shape, creatively active, a wonderful painter, recognized in Russia and in the world. He mastered new technologies, made difficult tours of his exhibitions and exhibitions of other artists. He was open to new genres in art. In all his artistic statements, no matter what he did, Dima was always very sincere. This is a rarity today.

Recall that Dmitry Vrubel was born on July 14, 1960 in Moscow. At the age of 15 he created the first work of art – the painting “The Judgment of Pilate”. He studied drawing with Mikhail Epstein, Andrei Panchenko, and Vladimir Ovchinnikov. Graduated from the art and graphic faculty of Moscow State Pedagogical Institute. In 1983 he became a member of the Union of Artists of the USSR, and four years later he participated in the first exhibition of the Club of Avant-Gardists (KLAVA). In the late 80s, he organized the Vrubel gallery, Kvart-Art, in his apartment. In 1993 he joined the Union of Artists of Berlin.