1975 — 2022

Member of the Moscow Union of Artists, Sculpture Department.

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

Valentin Korzhov's sculptural practice can be characterized as absolute spatiality, striving for a dynamic aesthetics of space. Influenced by Heidegger's phenomenology and his unusual concept of insignificance as the fundamental basis of existence, Korzhov placed his sculptural interventions - mysterious narratives about matter and the self - at the ontological point zero, in the void. Through the juxtaposition of sinister sculptural compositions and physical voids of barren fields and empty surfaces, a third space of unlimited spatiality arises.

Korzhov was born in Moscow, received a degree in sculpture at the Art Academy and began his professional career in the workshop of the sculptor-master Viktor Sidorenko. In his works, neoclassical images of the body merge with postmodern ideas about materiality, origin and relics, creating objects that are both present and simulacra archaeological fragments from uncertain, distant times, whether in the past or the future. In multidisciplinary installations that manipulate space as a medium, the artist created immersive experiences that draw inspiration not only from the resources of art, but also from modern philosophy and science.

The temporality in Korzhov's works is shifted; he reads the palimpsest of civilization as a complex tapestry of intertwined texts, images, and archetypes, moving away from the historicism of sculpture to the primordial mythographic space that encompasses the distant future. In his spatial constructions, different temporalities merge, opening up new ways to interpret the history of images through text, theory, visual culture and sensory perception. As a research-based practitioner, the artist was constantly involved in dialogues with thinkers of the past and present, retelling the discourse of modern culture in a unique way.

In the artist's practice, it is difficult to single out one direction - each of his works is a combination of sculpture and artistic composition, arranged with theatrical precision and captured on a photographic lens. Korzhov transforms each of his projects into a large-scale collaboration involving internationally recognized photographers, filmmakers, actors, and professional technicians. The end result for the viewer is a multifaceted installation with the effect of deep immersion, with a combination of sculpture, video and photographic art.

Valentin Korzhov was a member of the sculpture section of the Moscow Union of Artists, and his personal exhibitions were held at the Ekaterina Cultural Foundation and the State Museum of Fine Arts. Darwin, the Vinzavod Center for Contemporary Art, the Voronezh Academy of Arts, and others. The Archeology of Memory exhibition was shown as a parallel program during the V International Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art. In 2018, the BEING & TIME project was included in the main projects of the VIII Tashkent International Biennale of Contemporary Art, and in 2020, Valentin became a finalist for the XIV Arte Laguna International Prize and in March presented his installation "THE BRAIN THAT PASSED AWAY" in Venice.

Korzhov lived and worked in Moscow. Tragically died in 2022 as a result of a car accident.

ABOUT «DARVIN VS DARVIN» PROJECT:

The «Darwin vs Darwin» project is an original attempt to synchronize the laws of human biological and spiritual development. Valentine's fantastic multimedia project not only collides the beginning and the end of the evolution of all living things, but also forces us to live this drama as an instant evolution of consciousness, vision, and art itself. Within the framework of the project, hyper-realistic animalistic and humanoid sculptural objects made of silicone, made in FX technology, were created, which gives the impression of absolute authenticity of what is happening, as well as works of photographic and video art.

ABOUT «BREAKFAST AT CRONUS» PROJECT:

The «Breakfast at Cronus» project is focusing on the foundational narratives of Ancient Greece, examines the ancient myth of Cronus, the progenitor of time, and a number of other archetypal characters in order to reveal the expanded basis of reality; the appearance contained in pure reality. Korzhov starts from Heidegger's concept of poetry – the act of creation or creation, identical to metaphysics and poetry, as well as the immediate reality of the material world, ready for transformation by us. This discovery leads to the truth or essence that underlies our technological imagination and helps something to arise.

ABOUT «VIA SACRA» AND «THUS SPOKE HEAVEN» PROJECTS:

If his early projects emphasize the animal nature of the human being (Darwin vs Darwin), then over time, the spiritual principle is increasingly reflected in his works. Valentin has been searching for a very long time, groping for a way to depict feelings, emotions, subtle, intangible substances in sculpture and at the same time avoid direct quoting. And if in the first projects the straightforwardness of statements is characteristic of the artist, then in recent works he has come to a compromise of allegory and figurativeness. He takes casts from Greek statues as a form for casting sculptures and uses this form as a cell, shell — it symbolizes our body. It is a vessel for the immaterial contents, which leads us to the superman (according to Nietzsche), the soul.

ABOUT «BEING AND TIME» PROJECT:

The «Being and Time» project presented variants of the earthly embodiment of the geometry of cosmic bodies. Valentin uses photographs of galaxy clusters, nebulae, and asteroid belts as a prototype for his works. To model objects, the artist has developed a special method for connecting points of light sources in photographs of space. The works are like "cosmic casts", in which it is barely possible to guess man-made, they tell the viewer about the forms of existence in the Galaxy. Korzhov materializes cosmic voids in objects. Manifesting the primacy of the "ideal law" of being over time, he gives a substantive idea of the connection of civilization with the cosmos. The artist's work appeals to archaic knowledge about the universe. Back then, the idea of the "scope of life" depended on imagination. This approach may be relevant today as an experience of cognition of being and time.

ABOUT «ANIZOTROPIA» PROJECT:

The «ANIZOTROPIA» project consisting of sculptures and objects, explores the theme of space and form in the context of non-existence as a legacy of Heidegger's metaphysics of form. The very name of the project is associated with the idea of the ancient Greeks about the unique, invisible and unpredictable growth trajectory of various objects in nature. This term is widely used in solid state physics, chemistry, and crystallography to determine the dependence of an object's characteristics on its anisotropic state. To put it more simply, a material is considered isotropic when its properties are the same in all directions. If the properties of the material change with a change in direction, the material is considered anisotropic. Similarly, a sculpture made of metal pipes and everyday objects takes on an internally unpredictable form during the creative process, and the final result is unknown until the last moment. Following the artist's inner natural logic, the readymades used in installations lose their clarity and functionality, turning into a pure form.

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS AND PROJECTS:

• 2025 — Fair |catalog| November, a—s—t—r—a Gallery, Moscow, Russia
• 2025 — Cosmoscow, a—s—t—r—a gallery, Moscow, Russia
• 2025 — The way to Cronus, a—s—t—r—a Gallery, Moscow
• 2023 — Darwin vs Darwin. Zimova Art Buro, Moscow
• 2022 — Breakfast at Cronus. Nadya Kotova Gallery, Antwerp, Belgium
• 2021 — Observer of Immense Space. Public Art. Zaryadye, Moscow
• 2020 — Anizotropia. Artcatch Art Center, the Netherlands 
• 2020 — Round around. Gridchinhall Gallery, Cube Moscow, Moscow
• 2020 — ROUND AROUND Together with Oleg Khvostov, Gridchinhall Moscow, Cube Art Center, Moscow. 
• 2019 — Being and Time. Asia Contemporary Art Show, Gallery Bruno Massa. Hong Kong.
• 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 Attila Fattori Francini, Vinzavod, Moscow
• 2017 — Natural History Lessons History, State The Museum named after Darwin, Moscow
• 2017 — "Actual Russia: a game of classics", jointly with the State Center for Contemporary Art. Saratov State Art Museum named after A.N. Radishchev
• 2016 — "Actual Russia: Habitat", The State Museum of Modern History of Russia, Moscow
• 2014 — Bely Kurgan, Academy of Arts, Voronezh
• 2013 — "Archeology of Memory", A 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 — Grey Screens, Central House of the Artist, Moscow