Since the early 1990s, Ilya and Emilia Kabakov have collaborated to make complex installations that combine references to history, art, literature and philosophy. Much of their work has revolved around the creation of fictional characters and elaborate situations, and an interest in storytelling and fantasy underpins their art. Ilya Kabakov coined the term 'total installation' to describe these all-encompassing environments, in which viewers find themselves completely absorbed by the atmosphere of the work.
For their exhibition at the Serpentine, the Kabakovs designed a new installation responding to the tranquility of the Gallery's setting within Kensington Gardens. In The House of Dreams, they transformed the Gallery by creating a series of distinct meditative spaces, encouraging visitors to enter into a world of fantasy and daydreams. The installation was a place for rest and quiet contemplation.
Ilya Kabakov began his career as a children's book illustrator in the Soviet Union during the 1950s. He was one of a group of artists in Moscow who worked outside the official art system during the 1960s and 70s, an experience that influenced much of his later work. He has collaborated with Emilia Kabakov since the late 1980s. They were married in 1992, and live and work in New York. The Kabakovs' work has been widely shown internationally and they have received a number of awards and public commissions.
Their exhibition Incident at the Museum and Other Installations at the State Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg, 2004, was the first exhibition by living Russian artists to be held there.
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