Edison Kee is a bright original artist with paradoxical individuality. In the 70s of the 20th century he received academic education in the field of fine arts. He is a member of the Academy of Arts of Uzbekistan. His talent was properly evaluated immediately after Edison Kee started his work and presented a serial of illustrations to classic literature at one of exclusive Biennales in Moscow (Russia, 1980). The works of Edison are exposed in famous Russian galleries, private collections in Germany, Japan, USA and Korea. Especial interest of art critics focuses on recent works of Edison Kee.
Even cursory look at the subjects of Edison Kee’s art entitles us to resume that he is a master aesthetically gravitating to searches for significant historical events, social collisions and human lives involved into the swirl of political cataclysm. Selection of the subjects for his works is logic: “Emperor” – Nikolay II, “False Prophet” – Gregory Rasputin, “Dictator” – Josef Stalin, “Retribution” – the Nuremberg litigation, “Creator and Power” – Master and Margaret (M.A. Bulgakov).
These “documental fantasies” of Edison Kee demonstrate polyphony of human passions amazing by sharpness of their realization – from ironical grotesque to highly tragic and always creating unique dramatic atmosphere, which can be compared with atmosphere of Bosch, Bruegel and Goya.
In his art suites Edison Kee perfectly reveals the reasons of well known conflict between Person and Power. The author with great delicacy combines free fantasy and historical fact within one space. Art interpretation of historical fact is a task equally difficult and great. All history of humankind has brought us to understanding that historical fact requires its proper evaluation: scientific, philosophic, religious, aesthetic, ethic and etc. And only then this fact has a chance to become an integral part of historical spiritual experience of humanity and, as a precedent of this experience, to form mentality of the whole generation. A person “paints” this or that event in a course of historical process emotionally, intellectually and fills up it with content so exercising his historical mission of Man – realization of his place and role in the general picture of the World.
Edison Kee using paradoxical compositional minding creates illusion of permanently boiling space – time continuum. Thanks to that any actual historical event on his sheets becomes a magnificent theatre of human destinies in a process of their transformation on a background of political collisions.
As criteria for evaluation of any artist’s skills can be taken the creative ability to form such art lexicon, which in full extent can inform the world on rich spectrum of aesthetic reflections of the author within a theme chosen. Edison Kee is a master of rare talent being able to combine easily in his works fine lyrics and eccentric burlesque, fantastic grotesque and documentary fact, tragic and comic features.
Perfect skills in drawing give to the author ability to create atmosphere of wonderful occurrence of substantial images from blank paper sheet. These images wake and act reaching their culmination point in those places of composition where, according to the author’s idea, are running key events and likewise unseen fade away into nothing of white paper. It is worthy to note that the author means deep sacred sense when he uses the white surface of paper: in Edison Kee’s pictures the paper is not just a carrier for picture but transforms into creative and absolute space hiding the worlds inside.
All author’s art imagery of his own will aims to achievement of a single purpose – to synthesize all parts, to create integrated art space following aesthetic laws, which is able to open the mystery to the world, which is hidden behind curtain of social prejudice and philistine aberrations, to make a soul to empathize, exult, admire, sorrow and to survive catharsis.
Author: Victor Apukhtin