Leonid Balaklav: An Obsessive Portraitist

Leonid Balaklav (b. in Bieltzi, Moldavia, USSR, 1956 ) explores and paints himself and others time and again, somewhat obsessively. He finds something different in the same “model”—the light, the background, or a sitter who has meanwhile aged. The exhibition is comprised of self-portraits, portraits of the artist’s family, and portraits of others. The third group offers a social section—professors, politicians, curators, collectors and neighbors—met by an immigrant to a new land, and sets a map of “characters” from all levels of society.