Korzhov Valentin

1975 — 2022

Valentin Korzhov is an artist focused on the idea of space. His imagination was captured by Heidegger's idea of emptiness.

Member of the Moscow Union of Artists, sculpture department.

1998 — Graduated from Moscow State University, Faculty of Art and Graphic Arts
1996-2002 — Worked in the creative workshop of sculpture V.V. Sidorenko
2011 — Member of the sculpture section of the Moscow Union of Artists and the Association of Moscow Sculptors
2018 — Included in the top 100 Russian artists, according to “InArt”
2020 — Finalist of the XIV International Award “Arte Laguna”

Valentin Korzhov places his sculptures on a neutral natural background to observe their materiality surrounded by complete emptiness, the so-called nothingness. According to the German philosopher's ideas, this is the only condition under which true form can manifest itself. Bizarre objects that defy description, motionless against the background of endless snow fields, look strange and alien, and give rise to another, very literal connotation - Space. Valentine draws ideas for his sculptural forms from the geometry of large cosmic objects from the Hubble telescope's galactic images, drawing lines between different star clusters. A follower of Henry Moore and Francis Infante, Valentine strives for purity of form - his casts are tinted by chemical reaction with no man-made involvement or simply left white.

In Valentin's repertoire it is now difficult to single out one direction - each of his works is a combination of sculpture and artistic composition, arranged with theatrical precision and captured with a photographic lens. Valentin turns each of his projects into a large-scale collaboration with recognized international photographers, filmmakers, actors and professional technicians. The end result for the viewer is a multidimensional installation with a deep immersion effect, combining sculpture, video and photography.

Valentin is the only artist in Russia who works at the intersection of all major art media, philosophy and science. Valentin is a member of the Moscow Union of Artists, Sculpture Department. His solo exhibitions have been held at various venues, including the Ekaterina Foundation for Culture, the State Museum named after Darwin, the Center for Contemporary Art. Darwin, the Winzavod Center for Contemporary Art, the Voronezh Academy of Arts and many others. His exhibition “Archaeology of Memory” was shown as a parallel program during the V International Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art. In 2018, the project “BEING & TIME” was included in the main projects of the VIII Tashkent International Biennale of Contemporary Art, and in 2020 Valentin became a finalist of the XIV International Arte Laguna Prize and in March presents his installation “THE BRAIN THAT PASSED AWAY” in Venice.

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS AND PROJECTS:

2020 — ROUND AROUND In collaboration with Oleg Khvostov, Gridchinhall Moscow, Cube Art Center, Moscow
2019 — Being and Time. Asia Contemporary Art Show, Gallery Bruno Massa. Seoul, Korea
2019 — Being and Time. Bahrain International Exhibition and Convention Center. Manama, Bahrain
2019 — Across Borders, Bahrain
2019 — Being and Time, Ekaterina Cultural Foundation, Moscow
2018 — International Biennale of Contemporary Art, Tashkent
2018 — The Last Job, Mikhail Shemyakin Foundation, St. Petersburg
2018 — Flesh And Sky, Gallery 11.12, curated by Attilia Fattori Franchini, Winzavod, Moscow
2017 — Lessons of Natural History, Darwin State Museum, Moscow. Darwin Museum, Moscow
2017 — “Actual Russia: Playing the Classics”, in collaboration with the State Center for Contemporary Art. Saratov State Art Museum named after A.N. Radishchev
2016 — “Actual Russia: habitat”, State Museum of Contemporary History of Russia, Moscow
2014 — White Kurgan, Academy of Arts, Voronezh
2013 — “Archaeology of Memory”, Parallel Program of the V Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art, curated by Vladimir Potapov. “Gogol Center”, Moscow.
2013 — Project of the V Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art, Moscow
2012 — Zeta-Flood, Gogol Center, Moscow
2009 — Gray Screens, Central House of Artists, Moscow