HANOI, March 21 (Itar-Tass) – The Russian Embassy in Indonesia confirmed the death of a famous Russian painter Vladislav Mamyshev-Monroe on the Indonesian island Bali, press attach· of the Russian Embassy Dmitry Solodov told Itar-Tass by phone from Jakarta.
“According to Russian Honorary Consul on Bali Nuku Kamka, Russian citizen Vladislav Yuryevich Mamyshev, born in 1969, died at a hotel on the island on March 16, 2013 under yet-to-be-unclear circumstances. According to the preliminary reports, he sank in the swimming pool,” the Russian diplomat said.
“The Russian Embassy is trying to get in touch with the relatives and friends of the demised painter and settles the formalities related with the processing of required documents for the delivery of the body of the painter to the homeland,” the press attach· noted.
Vladislav Mamyshev-Monroe was born in Leningrad on October 12, 1969. He became famous thanks to his performances, in which he imitated different celebrities. The first heroine of his virtual transformations in the eighties became Hollywood film star Marilyn Monroe, in honour of which the painter even changed his surname. Later the heroes of his performances became Alla Pugacheva, Kim Jong Il, John Paul II, Leo Tolstoy, Jeanne d’Arc, Osama bin Laden, Nicholas II, Grigory Rasputin, Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, Brigitte Bardot, Tutankhamen and many others.
In 2003 Mamyshev-Monroe was participating in a notorious exhibition “Be careful, religion!”, for which he had done a photo collage of the same name. On January 18, 2003, the Sakharov Centre, where the exhibition was held, was attacked by the vandals. Almost all exhibits were damaged, destroyed or stolen.
In 2007 the painter was awarded with the Kandinsky Prize in the Media Project of the Year nomination for his version of the Soviet film Volga-Volga.
In the last few years Vladislav Mamyshev-Monroe visited frequently Bali and his creative activities in the Russian fine arts sphere have diminished.