"I strive to create a personal, but at the same time well-known, intricate folklore reality filled with meaning in its "blue sky", despite the mythical and practical shortcomings."

Veronica Smirnoff is a British artist of Russian origin (born in Moscow, Russia, 1979). She received a bachelor's degree from the Slade School of Art and a postgraduate diploma from the Royal Academy of Arts. She held her first solo exhibition at the Riccardo Crespi Gallery in Milan (2008). Smirnoff has exhibited in Moscow, Paris, Berlin, New York and London. She was selected to participate in the John Moores Painting Prize UK (2010). She lives and works in London.

Constantly rethinking and referring to the Renaissance and iconography, folklore and Asian traditions, the paintings are built using traditional elements - the fragility of gesso and the hardness of wood, with pigment ground from semiprecious stones mixed with egg yolk and wine to make paints. Wooden support boards are made of oak in Russian monasteries and consecrated. Layer by layer, the surface is covered with texture, and then sanded to a sedimentary surface. Smirnoff is fascinated by the idea of an "icon" as an object of worship and its close connection with "folk art" with a wide repertoire of signs: flat modeling of figures, conditional space and abstract color effects.

"Everyone loves good stories — this childhood feeling is deeply ingrained in our collective memory. It awakens the ancient instinct of elementary surprise and amazement that we once possessed. As in a good story, seeing is always forbidden. Everything amazing depends on one thing that is hidden. It harbors a potential drama in terms of imagery, when the eye slowly opens and creates meaning. The details are hidden, but important.

Working with egg tempera on wood, one of the oldest and most refined techniques, I use elements of icon painting and painting of the early Renaissance, Asian traditions and folk art, as well as modern cultural references. This particular visual language is partly imbued with my Slavic roots, but it is obviously inspired by other sources as well — I take materials, symbols, ideas and gestures from many sources and rethink them in the process of transforming painting. In a way, I use this process to give meaning and significance to my stories, constantly exploring and rethinking the images both from the outside and from the inside.

The egg tempera technique plays a key role in its methodology, working with its texture and fluidity, leaving vast expanses of color layers and brush strokes to their fate when drying horizontally. As if by magic, the surface becomes permeable, and the intricate detailing in some places is designed to emphasize the dialogue between abstraction and figurativeness, allegory and materialization.

I create drawings from tiny dots or thick contours, and then, following the technique of the old masters, transfer the images to a primed board. Ideas arise from free sketches, special sensations from the surrounding world, from recordings of impressions, which leads to a combination of different registers and the mutual arrangement of objects, the flat formation of surfaces and the distortion of perspectives. There is a deliberate contradiction between how much I recognize the original and how much I am guided by pure intuition, when traditional observations and approximations connect disparate images together and turn them into open narratives with their inner logic and eternal hope for the blue sky ahead."

Veronica Smirnoff, artist

EDUCATION:

• 2004-2007 — Royal Academy of Arts - Postgraduate Diploma in Fine Art
• 1999-2004 — Slade School of Fine Art, UCL - BA in Fine Art with 1st Class Honours
• 1998 -1999 — Wimbledon School of Art - BTEC Foundation Diploma in Fine Art and Design

 

PRIZES, SCHOLARSHIPS AND AWARDS:

• 2006 — Alumni Award, Royal Academy of Arts
• 2005 — Boundary Prize
• 2004 — Terence Cuneo Prize in Fine Art
• 2003 — Rodney Burn Prize in Fine Art
• 2001-2002 — Scholarship to the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna

SOLO EXHIBITIONS: 

• 2024 — BlueSky Red, Candida Stevens Gallery, London
• 2018 — Tales of Bright and Brittle, Riccardo Crespi Gallery, Milan
• 2017 — The Greater and Lesser Ways, Jessica Carlisle, London
• 2013 — Beyond The Shore, Riccardo Crespi Gallery, Milan
• 2012 — The Madding Spring, Vela Gallery, London
• 2010 — Zhar, Stanislas Bourgain Gallery, Paris
• 2008 — Morozka, Riccardo Crespi Gallery, Milan

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS:

• 2025 — Fair |catalog| November, a—s—t—r—a Gallery, Moscow, Russia
• 2024 — Bryan O'Sullivan Collection, London
• 2023 — Candida Stevens, Chichester
• 2023 — If you could save one place, London Art Fair, London
• 2022 — Hologram, Wall Art Gallery, Miami
• 2022 — Place-Place, Candida Stevens Gallery, London
• 2022 — Manana Incierto, Bilbao
• 2022 — Manana Incierto, London
• 2022 — Dream Baby Dream, Venice
• 2021 — PAW, Palermo
• 2021 — Art Moscow, Moscow
• 2019 — Heat, 58th Venice Biennale, Venice
• 2019 — Walking Dream, MiArt, Milan
• 2018 — Painting Now 2, Riccardo Crespi Gallery, Milan
• 2016 — Sting & Trudie Styler: The Composition of a Christie's Collection, London
• 2015 — Painting Now, Riccardo Crespi Gallery, Milan
• 2014 — "Future Worlds", Erarta Gallery, London Walls, Pushkin House, London FROWARD, Eton College, Eton Renewal of the Sacred, House of the Nobleman, London
• 2014 — "The Future can Wait", Saatchi Gallery and the New Sensations program on Channel 4, London
• 2013 — "Everywhere, except now", 4th Thessaloniki Biennale, Greek Museum of Modern Art, Thessaloniki
• 2012 — "Dreaming Beauties", Riccardo Crespi Gallery, Milan
• 2012 — Opulant Vision, Group Exhibition, FORD Projects Gallery, New York
• 2011 — "The Return", "The Nobleman's House", London Allegory, Salon Vert Gallery, London
• 2010 — John Moores Prize in Painting, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
• 2010 — BRIC Themed Auction, Saatchi Gallery, London
• 2009 — "Women Worth Watching", Christie's, London
• 2009 — Self-portrait of a lady, Riccardo Crespi Gallery, Milan
• 2009 — RA Sotheby's Auction, London Society of Modern Art, Gothic Auction, Sotheby's, London
• 2008 — RXArt, "Invasion/Evasion in New York", Baibakov Art Projects, Moscow
• 2008 — Sotheby's Charity Auction, London 2008 — Royal Academy of Arts, London
• 2008 — Transferred as Present, York Art Gallery, York
• 2007 — The End Begins: The Lodeveans Collection, The Hospital Gallery, London; Royal Academy of Arts, London MiArt Fair, Milan
• 2006 — TGU, Zoo Art Fair, London Lenin Lovers, CuratorSpace Gallery, London Premiums, Royal Academy of Arts, London
• 2005 — TGU, Zoo Art Fair, London Baroquerocks, Espace Brochage Express, Paris Center for Contemporary Art, Moscow
• 2004 — 18-45, Tascheles Gallery, Berlin

Marina Busel is a renowned interior designer and decorator whose unique projects have been realized in various countries around the world. Inspired by natural phenomena, ancient artifacts, primitive art, and the works of creative geniuses from the past and present, Marina has been creating collectible design and art objects since 2023. The proportions of Marina's objects are encoded with the Fibonacci sequence, which is fundamental to nature itself, resulting in objects with a harmonious emotional aura. The use of handcrafted techniques, visual simplicity, and natural materials adds a unique sensory experience to each object. Minimalist design and sculptural forms go beyond traditional images and structures. The concept's meaning is free and has a wide range of associations. The objects combine the natural and symbolic, the sensual and the conceptual, which are essential components of contemporary art and design.

 

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS AND FAIRS:

• 2025 — Fair |catalog| November, a—s—t—r—a gallery, Moscow, Russia
• 2025 — Exhibition "50/50", FINEART Gallery, Moscow
• 2025 — Exhibition "Circular Design", Muzeon, Moscow
• 2025 — International ARTDOM Exhibition, Moscow
• 2025 — Solo exhibition "SILUR", BUSEL gallery art space, Moscow
• 2025 — Solo exhibition "Sunny Circle", WE ART Gallery, Nikolina Gora
• 2025 — Exhibition "50/50", A-O Gallery, Ufa
• 2025 — blazar Contemporary Art Fair, curated by Sample gallery, Moscow
• 2024 — Art Moscow 2024, exhibition of the Polyot gallery, Moscow
• 2024 — Yuri Zlotnikov "Neoconstructivism", pop/off/art Gallery, Moscow
• 2024 — All-Russian Museum of Decorative Arts, festival of Contemporary Russian Art and Design "Games of Color", Moscow
• 2024 — Personal exhibition "Beauty Lives", BUSEL gallery, Moscow
• 2024 — Personal exhibition "Sun in the Garden", WE ART gallery, Nikolina Gora
• 2024 — Exhibition "EMOVEO", FINEART gallery, Moscow
• 2024 — blazar Contemporary Art Fair, curated by Sample gallery

Oleg Dou is the pseudonym of artist Oleg Douryagin.

Born in 1983 in Moscow. Graduated from the Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys, specializing in economic programming. Since childhood he was interested in art, became interested in creating computer graphics. In 2005 he took up photography and began to combine it with post-processing. He works in various media from digital images and video to sculptures.
Winner of International Photography Awards (2007), International Color Awards (2008) and Arte Laguna Art Prize (Italy, 2009). Nominee of the Kandinsky Prize in 2007 and 2008.
Oleg created a Photoshop cover commissioned by Adobe, participated in the “Leaders of Public Opinion” program, creating works at the invitation of the Culture Department of the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He has collaborated with brands such as Givenchy, Juun J, David Koma. 
His works are in museum collections of Luxemburg Museum of Modern Art, Luxembourg; Ekaterina Foundation, Russia; Jan des bouvrie, Institut Culturel Bernard Magrez, France; Samawi Collection, Dubai; Jeju museum of art, Korea; 21 cMuseum, USA; Moscow Multimedia Art Museum, Russia; FRAC Reunion, France; Sollo Collection, Spain and others. As well as in private collections in Russia, America and Switzerland. 

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS AND PROJECTS:

• 2025 — Oberton Graphics  Fair a—s—t—r—a gallery, Moscow, Russia 
• 2025 — Fair |catalog| November, a—s—t—r—a gallery, Moscow, Russia
• 2025 — Cosmoscow, a—s—t—r—a gallery, Moscow, Russia
• 2024 — Fair |catalog| December, a—s—t—r—a gallery, Moscow, Russia
• 2024 — Cosmoscow, a—s—t—r—a gallery, Moscow, Russia
• 2024 — St. Petersburg Art Fair “1703”, a—s—t—r—a gallery, Manezh, St. Petersburg, Russia.
• 2024 — Fair |catalog| April, a—s—t—r—a gallery, Moscow, Russia
• 2019 — “Mutant”, solo exhibition , Osnova Gallery, Moscow, Russia 
• 2018 — “Looking Back and Beyond”, group exhibition, Deborah Colton Gallery, Houston, USA 
• 2018 — “Elèctric i llunyà”, group exhibition, Tecla Sala Cultural Center, Barcelona, Spain
• 2017 — “Elegance”, group exhibition, RTR Gallery, Paris, France 
• 2016 — “On behalf of baboushka”, group exhibition, RTR Gallery, Paris, France 
• 2016 — “All eyes on me”, group exhibition, Pechersky Gallery, Moscow, Russia 
• 2016 — “Lonely Narcissus”, solo exhibition, Osnova Gallery, Moscow, Russia
• 2014 — “Faces”, solo exhibition, Galerist, Istanbul, Turkey
• 2014 — “8 years. Retrospective”, solo exhibition, RTR Gallery, Paris, France
• 2012 — “Another Face”, solo exhibition, Museum of Multimedia Arts, Moscow, Russia
• 2012 — “Tears and Toy Story”, solo exhibition, Museum of Regional Arts of Krasnodar, Russia
• 2012 — “Another Face”, solo exhibition, RTR Gallery, Paris, France
• 2012 — “Reboot”, group exhibition, Red October Gallery, Moscow, Russia
• 2012 — “I am who I am”, group exhibition, KIT Kunst im Tunnel, Düsseldorf, Germany
• 2012 — International Photography Festival, Republic of Korea
• 2012 — “Perestroika”, solo exhibition, Fotofest 2012 Biennial of Photography, Houston, USA
• 2012 — “Photography: Russia, China, Czech and Slovak Republic” group exhibition, Allen Center, Houston, USA
• 2011 — “Cubs”, solo exhibition, Espace Art 22 gallery, Brussels
• 2011 — “Cubs”, solo exhibition, Senda Gallery, Barcelona, Spain
• 2011 — FotoArtFestival, BWA, Bielsko, Twarze, Poland
• 2011 — “Cubs”, solo exhibition, RTR Gallery, Paris, France
• 2011 — “Gevaarlijk Jong”, group exhibition, Dr. Ghislain Museum, Ghent, Belgium
• 2011 — “F for Fake”, group exhibition, Belvedere Palace, San Leucio “Smell, Colour, Chemestry, Art and Education”, Santa Monica Museum, Barcelona, Spain
• 2010 — “Toystory”, solo exhibition, Flatland Gallery, Utrecht, Netherlands
• 2010 — “Toystory”, solo exhibition, Senda Gallery, Barcelona, Spain
• 2010 — “Russian Tales”, group exhibition, EXPRMNTL gallery, Toulouse, France
• 2010 — “Russains! Photographic portrait 1970-2010”, group exhibition, OREL ART gallery, Paris, France
• 2010 — “Atopia”, group exhibition, Center for Contemporary Culture of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
• 2010 — “inSPIRACJE”, festival, Poland
• 2010 — “L'exquis et l'obscur”, Galerie D.X, Bordeaux, France
• 2009 — “Tears”, solo exhibition, Art Espace 22, Brussels, Belgium
• 2009 — “Les Visages”, group exhibition, Interalia, Seoul
• 2009 — “Look me in the Eyes”, group exhibition, RTR Gallery, Paris
• 2009 — Pingyao International Photography Festival 2009, China
• 2009 — “Visage. Image. Timps”, group exhibition, Ekaterina Cultural Foundation, Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art, Moscow

Fair |catalog| April 2023, a—s—t—r—a gallery, Moscow, Russia

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS:

• Artguide - Year Three: the results of art fair 1703
  
• Photoplay - Talks. Oleg Dou
  
• Moskvich Mag - This is my city: artist Oleg Dou
  
• ArtInvestment - Artist of the Week: Oleg Dou
• U magazine - Artist Oleg Dou - about fashion, design and art collaborations
  
• BURO. - The Carol Christian Poell store will host an exhibition of artist Oleg Dou
• Next Level - Oleg Dou. Sketches

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

Born in 1983 in Kemerovo.

Graduated from St. Petersburg State Academy of Art and Industry named after A.L. Stieglitz at the Department of Monumental and Decorative Painting, workshop of Prof. V.G. Lekanov (2004-2010) and Kemerovo Art College at the painting and pedagogical department (1999-2004). The works of the artist are in the Russian Museum.

In his works Kirill considers the idea of globalization as a metaphor for biblical subjects, using a stylistics referring to the aesthetics of the High Renaissance. Koteshov dissects the aesthetics of classical body image, exploring a motif reminiscent of Michelangelo's late sculptures from the Slaves series - spiraling bodies, somewhere unfinished, hardly carved from stone. 

The artist also creates industrial landscapes transformed into futuristic images of the city, using Kuzbasslak - coal tar, which refers to the industrial context of his small homeland.

SOLO EXHIBITIONS AND PROJECTS:

• 2024 — “Cosmopera”, a—s—t—r—a gallery, Moscow 
• 2010 — “Stolpopotvlenie”, Atelier No. 2 Gallery, Moscow
• 2010 — “Vive la jeune Garde”, Atelier du vent, Rennes
• 2010 — “L'Exposition d'Ilya Gaponov & Kirill Koteshov”, Maison du ventes Leclere, Marseille
• 2010 — “Summer snow”, Maison du Loir-et-Cher, Blois
• 2008 — “Three Days”, Triumph Gallery, Moscow
• 2008 — “The Last Snow”, Globus Gallery, St. Petersburg
• 2008 — “UNDER GROUND”, Manezh, Small Hall, St. Petersburg
• 2007 — “Kuzbass Parallel”, Triumph Gallery, Moscow
• 2007 — “Position”, Museum of St. Petersburg State Art and Design Academy, St. Petersburg

GROUP 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
• 2024 — Fair |catalog| December, a—s—t—r—a gallery, Moscow, Russia
• 2024 — Cosmoscow, a—s—t—r—a gallery, Moscow, Russia
• 2024 — St. Petersburg Art Fair “1703”, a—s—t—r—a gallery, Manezh, St. Petersburg
• 2024 — Fair |catalog| April, a—s—t—r—a gallery, Moscow, Russia
• 2023 — Fair |catalog| December, a—s—t—r—a gallery, Moscow, Russia
• 2023 — Cosmoscow, a—s—t—r—a gallery, Moscow, Russia
• 2023 — St. Petersburg Art Fair “1703”, a—s—t—r—a gallery, Manezh, St. Petersburg, Russia
• 2021 — “Answer 42” in the framework of the International Women's Forum, Kuzbass Ice Palace, Kemerovo, Russia
• 2020 — “Realism: yesterday and today. Art and Truth”, the branch of the Russian Museum in Malaga. Spain, Malaga
• 2020 — “Artists and collectors to the Russian Museum.Gifts.1898 - 2019. Selected” State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg
• 2019 — “Beauty: PLUS-MINUS”, Central Exhibition Hall “Manezh”.
• 2018 — “Project of interregional cooperation in the field of contemporary art NEMOSKVA”
• 2016 — “Ark”, as part of the V International Biennale of Young Art, Moscow.
• 2016 — “Changes”, Ural Vision Gallery, Budapest
• 2015 — “Russia. Realism XXI century”, State Russian Museum, Benois Building, St. Petersburg
• 2014 — “Newer than New” as part of the Baltic Biennale, New Museum, St. Petersburg
• 2014 — “Strictness and Beauty”, Ural Vision Gallery, Yekaterinburg
• 2014 — “The Other Capital”, Moscow Museum, Moscow
• 2014 — “Actual Drawing”, State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg
• 2014 — “Waterline” installation, as part of the parallel program of the biennale “Manifesta10”, Rizzordi art foundation, St. Petersburg
• 2013 — ICONS. Creative space Tkachi. St. Petersburg, Russia
• 2011 — “Gates and Doors”, State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg
• 2010 — ART Moscow, Triumph Gallery, Moscow
• 2010 — “Vive la jeune Garde”, Atelier du vent, Rennes
• 2010 — Summer Snow. Maison du Loir et Cher. Blois, France
• 2010 — “Hero of Our Time”, Moscow International Biennale “Stop! Who's Coming?”
• 2010 — “Futurology”, Garage Center for Contemporary Culture, Moscow.
• 2009 — Kandinsky Prize Exhibition. Louise Blouin Foundation. London
• 2009 — ART Moscow, Triumph Gallery, Moscow
• 2009 — VIII Krasnoyarsk Museum Biennale, Krasnoyarsk
• 2009 — Festival of Contemporary Art ART Zavod, Yekaterinburg (GTSI)
• 2009 — “Topology of Happiness”, Historic Architectural Museum Tsaritsyno, Moscow
• 2009 — “Russian Beauty”, GTSI, Moscow
• 2009 — Europe Art Fair 2009, Geneva, Switzerland
• 2009 — Art Basel Selection, Basel, Switzerland
• 2008 — “Death.net”, Art Gallery “Victoria”, Samara.
• 2008 — “White Space” Gallery, London
• 2008 — Festival of Contemporary Art ART Zavod, Yekaterinburg (GTSI)
• 2008— ART Moscow, Triumph Gallery, Moscow
• 2008 — “Pereuchet” Manege, Small Hall, St. Petersburg
• 2008 — “Memory of Fields”, loft-project “Etazhi”, St. Petersburg
• 2008 — Festival of contemporary art “Snegarry”, Kemerovo
• 2007 — “The Most New”, Atelier Gallery No. 2, Winzavod Center for Contemporary Art, Moscow
• 2006 — Festival of contemporary art “Art - Status”, Kemerovo
• 2006 — First Biennale of Contemporary Art, St. Petersburg
• 2005 — Exhibition of competitive works “The Nutcracker”, Exhibition Hall of the State Opera and Ballet Theater of the St. Petersburg Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory
• 2003 — Work of the Year, Kemerovo Union of Artists, Kemerovo

ABOUT THE PROJECT “TREE OF LIFE”:

The main goal of the exhibition is to show the specifics of the functioning of drawing in contemporary Russian art. The main focus is on works from the 1990s-2000s, but earlier material, mostly related to conceptualism, is also included. The exhibition demonstrates various ways of actualizing drawing and drawing technique.

The intention of the work reflects the contemporary artist's distrust of the proper degree of grandeur of the space around him. The desire for the “great” inevitably leads to the element of monumental art organized according to classical laws. The idea is realized using the plot of the most daring creative event in the supposed history. The Tower of Babel, not the authentic stone steps of the ancient temple, but its mental construction, has penetrated the structure of memory and language as a multidimensional symbol. The creative act of erecting the tower can be regarded as a pure desire for greatness. The transformation of desire into action generates architectural splendor, allowing man to order nature according to the rules of supports and slabs. The creation of the tower (pillar) is the technological magnification of human civilization, and it continues to this day. Peoples, institutions, cultures and subcultures, overt and covert societies are equivalent as elements of the structure, the removal of one of them provokes instability of the puzzle. The personification of social realities turns into a metaphor of the construction process, where each character becomes an architectural block. It becomes clear that the piled bricks, which fall into place on their own, may not be aware of the existence of the Architect. Meanwhile, there is an Architect. In his role for a moment appears an artist creating virtual architecture. The scale and risk of this endeavor is deliberately high. An enthusiastically begun tower has turned into a construction frozen for lack of funds; a creation of grandiose utility risks turning into an aimless pandemonium of the crowd. And so, as a reminder of the great collapse of great ideas, the spirit of the titanic frescoes of the Renaissance inevitably accompanies the building. Considering the idea of globalization as a metaphor for biblical stories, the author uses a stylistic style that in its formal features refers to the aesthetics of the High Renaissance to build a sharp compositional structure. The body in this work merges one with the other. The body becomes at the same time a living matter, an inanimate object, a fragment, a puzzle, a detail of a mechanism that extends beyond the space of the canvas. By dissecting the aesthetics of the classical image of the body, the author thereby explores a motif that in some ways resembles the moment of Michelangelo's last sculptures from the “Slaves” series - these are spiraled bodies - somewhere unfinished - almost not carved from stone.  One can notice such a modernist gesture in them - the body both is and is not. In the same way, the body in Corpus II becomes a kind of refrain and continuation of the classical story of man, his spirit and struggle. The span of time of which we are participants and observers is a time of tectonic shifts of concepts and paradigms, like the Renaissance. Global structures absorb identities, leading to unification - of languages, images, worldviews. But can total equation be avoided? can a compromise between identity and the global emerge? can nations remain? Mixing and equation seems to be inevitable, but polyphony is always deeper and more complex. The paradox of globalization is the realization of identity. The tower cannot be completed. The general will still collapse into the particular. 

Actual Drawing Exhibition, 2014, Marble Palace, Russian Museum

Space Opera” exhibition, a-s-t-r-a gallery, Moscow, 2024

“The Tree of Life is a complex image that exists in various cultures and is one of the monumental symbols of life, the planet and all living things. Kirill Koteshov reinterprets this image in the form of a large pictorial installation, enveloping the entire space and completely absorbing our visual perception. The monumental pictorial installation, which was created in the Russian Museum for the exhibition “Actual Drawing”, really combines monumental painting, which practically turns into wall painting. The drawing is executed so qualitatively that it creates a feeling of the work of old masters, nevertheless, the theme of the Tree of Life and its realization by Kirill Koteshov remain relevant today.  In Kirill Koteshov's work, the tree is formed by the intertwined figures of people, the bodies touching and connecting with each other, creating a sense of a tree crown, a monolithic mass moving upwards and uniting all things into a single bond. The bodies are devoid of faces, gender, individual characteristics, but they are physically ideal, perfect and identical. The figures support each other, make each other bend, move, assume certain poses - but all together they form a single chain of being, a life taking shape, a mass that seems indestructible.”

Kirill Koteshov

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS:

• Artguide - Year three: the results of art fair 1703
• Artguide - Cosmoopera. Imaginary Architecture by Kirill Koteshov
• Vedomosti - Classics and contemporaries: four new exhibitions of spring
• BURO - Who's new? Participating artists worth coming to Cosmoscow 2023 for
• Playbill - What to see at the new contemporary art fair |catalog|

«A new door to art begins with a new search for the boundaries of this garden. Her vision happens approximately the way Vernadsky saw his biosphere. It is necessary to create your own language, your own method for going abroad. For example, the language of perspective: Egypt depicted landscapes in the form of diagrams and maps. The linear begins with Giotto. Rauschenbach and his followers began analyzing the prospects of individual masters. And he came to the conclusion that everyone has their own vision of space. That is, the garden opens up to everyone in their own way."

— Mikhail Krunov, artist

An artist, a representative of the generation that replaced the nonconformist sixties. Graduated from the Art and Graphic Faculty of the Pedagogical Institute in Moscow (1984). He was a student of Alexei Kamensky (1927-2014) and Yuri Zlotnikov (1930-2016). He has been exhibiting since 1979 in Russia, Europe, America, India, and China.

In the 1980s, he began working professionally with a palette of smoky gray and white shades in the genre of landscape, developing the ideas of escapism and minimalism in painting. The landscape in Krunov's vision acquires signs of generalization with horizontal hills, parks, and perspectives. At this time, the artist develops a technique of multi-layered painting and seeks to shade the boundaries of the image and paste in the structures of the strokes. From the point of view of the emotional, sensual, and content of the artist's paintings during this period, he was fascinated by the transmission of thoughtful moods and the effect of meditative practices of Indian yoga.

In the 1990s, Krunov worked, forming his sacred symbolic palette based on the scientific ideas of V.I. Vernadsky and N.V. Fedorov. He paints images of human figures and birds, this series of works was presented by the artist in the Italian city of Padua. Since 1996, Krunov has been a member of the presidium of the Russian-Indian Friendship Society, founded by the indologist and writer A.N. Senkevich. The main areas of work are the organization of artistic, literary projects and expeditions in Russia, India, and France.

The Key Exhibition (1989) The artist considers a personal project at the Biological research center in Pushchino on the Oka River, where communication with major Russian biologists influenced his creative worldview and became the beginning of a new geometric series of works, The Genetic Code. In the 2000s, Krunov's artistic method was an analog abstract painting in the classical medium of oil on canvas.

In the 2000s, the artist's conceptual doctrine was shaped by the Vedic idea of Kalpa cycles, a system of calculating time in the universe. Influenced by the practice of yoga and Eastern philosophy, the artist begins the Kalpa Cycle project, in which he paints a visualization of the cyclical movement of time. At the same time, color compositions in painting are shown as vast epochs: the Golden Age, the Silver Age, the Bronze Age, the Iron Age (Kali Yuga, 432,000 years) of human existence.

From the point of view of art criticism, in 2025, the artist exists as part of the science art tradition. Close figures include Vyacheslav Koleychuk (1941-2018), Francisco Infante (1943), Alexander Pankin (1938-2020), Mikhail Chernyshov (1945). Since 2020, together with curator Alexander Korytov, he has been working to popularize the concepts of Russian cosmism, discoveries in the field of particle physics and new materials.

Russian Russian art From 2000 to 2020, Krunov has been working with Russian art in the European and Russian markets as the art director of Nadya Brykina galley in Zurich and Moscow. As a result of the gallery's work, a galaxy of important Russian nonconformist artists from the 60s and 70s became famous and collected among European collectors.

In the 2020s, Nadia Brytkina Galleries (Zurich), the Museum of Nonconformism (Moscow), the ULM Gallery (Moscow), the Prometeus Foundation (Moscow), the JART Gallery (Moscow), the a-s—t—r—a Gallery (Moscow) are working with the artist.

Since 1979, Mikhail Krunov has presented his work at Moscow, regional and foreign exhibitions (Poland, England, Turkey, Italy, Israel, India, New Zealand, Korea).

THE WORKS ARE IN INSTITUTIONAL COLLECTION:

• The State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg 
• Museum of Nonconformism, Moscow 
• Nadja Brykina Gallery, Zurich
• Ministry of Culture of Russia, Moscow
• Foundation of the All-Russian Directorate of Exhibitions
• The Museum of Modern Art, Moscow 
• Civico Museum (Italy)
• M. Chagall Museum (Vitebsk)
• The Sara Vinits Foundation
• Bakhrushin Theatre Museum
• Collection of George Kostaki, Greece, Thessaloniki

PRIVATE COLLECTIONS: 

• Catherine and William McDougall Collection (London, UK)
• Haner Urs (Zurich, Switzerland) 

SELECTED PERSONAL PROJECTS:

• 2025 — "The Supra—cultural Absolute or the sensual exploration of time", a-s—t—r—a Gallery, Moscow
• 2022 — "Arithmetic Combinatorics", Moscow 
• 2018-2019 — "Surface", Nadia Brykina Gallery, 2015 — at the representative office of the auction house MacDougall's "arithmetic combinatorics"
• 2008 — Personal exhibition Mikhail Krunov, Nadia Brykina Gallery, Zurich, Switzerland
• 1993 — Mikhail Krunov Personal exhibition House of Scientists, Pushchino, Russia
• 1990 — Personal exhibition Izograf Gallery.
• 1991 — Solo exhibition Les Oreades Gallery

SELECTED GROUP PROJECTS:

• 2025 — Fair |catalog| November, a—s—t—r—a gallery, Moscow, Russia
• 2021 — "Not the slightest sign of haste", JART Gallery, curators Svetlana Kerro, Alexander Korytov, Moscow
• 2019 — "25 years in nonconformism. Exhibition in honor of the creation of the Nadia Brykina Foundation, Nadia Brykina Gallery, Moscow
• 2017-2018 — "Collection", Nadia Brykina Gallery, Moscow
• 2016 — "Formula of the form", Central House of Artists, Moscow
• 1991 — "Seventh Triennial", Lalit Kala Academy, Delhi
• 1991 — "ART MYTH 2.", Moscow International Art Fair, Central Exhibition Hall "Manege", Moscow
• 1990 — "NTR in Fine Art", House of Artists on Kuznetsky Bridge, Moscow
• 1990 — "Soviet-British Group Exhibition", Central House of Artists, Moscow
• 1990 — "The Origins. Action", exhibition on the cities of the Mediterranean, Turkey, Italy, Israel
• 1990 — Asia-Europe Biennale, Ankara
• 1990 — "Painting on Paper", Moscow, London
• 1989 — "Andreenkov, Borodin, Krunov", Padua, Italy
• 1989 — "Ecology-89", 1st International Exhibition-manifestation, Warsaw
• 1988 — All-Union Youth Exhibition, Moscow
• 1988 — "Still Life and interior", Leningrad
• 1984 — "Spring Exhibition of Moscow Artists", Moscow
• 1983 — "We are for peace. Spring Exhibition of Moscow Artists", Moscow
• 1982-1988 — 14th-18th Youth Exhibitions, Moscow

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS:

• THE ART NEWSPAPER RUSSIA - Exhibition of Mikhail Krunov's works at MacDougall's Moscow office
• ArtAndYou — Mikhail Krunov: “There are two parallel processes in art - doing and seeing”
• MyDecor — Mikhail Krunov: “I believe in quantum reality, alchemy and magic wand”

Grigory Orekhov is an artist and sculptor, born in Moscow in the family of the outstanding Soviet sculptor, academician, People's Artist of Russia Yuri Orekhov. His work is characterized by perfection of form and metaphorical depth. One of his significant works is the sculpture "Tumbler Agatha", created in honor of the artist's daughter. Agatha's birth was an inspiring and significant event in Gregory's life, vividly reflected in this work.

Grigory Orekhov is known for his projects in the field of public art and land art.

Grigory Orekhov is a regular participant of the Cosmoscow International Contemporary Art Fair. In 2017, he participated in the international exhibition "Start" at the Saatchi Gallery in London. 

In 2017, Grigory Orekhov installed the 4-meter-high sculpture "Agatha" at the main entrance to GUM on Red Square, and two years later it decorated the architectural ensemble of Stoleshnikov Lane, becoming the central element of Moscow's urban space.

In 2019, Grigory Orekhov became the first contemporary artist to present his work in the historical space of the Peterhof State Museum-Reserve – the sculptural composition "Eternity", dedicated to the 220th anniversary of the birth of Alexander Pushkin. Also in the same year, at the 58th International Venice Biennale, he presented the site-specific installation "Salvation" in the garden and on the facade of the Scuola Grande della Misericordia.

In 2020-2021, his sculpture OVOID 7.1 was presented on the Cathedral Square of the Moscow Kremlin as part of the exhibition "Carl Faberge and Fyodor Ruckert. Masterpieces of Russian Enamel" in the Museums of the Moscow Kremlin.

Grigory Orekhov also created Russia's first modern sculpture dedicated to Kazimir Malevich in the park of the same name in 2020.

In 2021, he presented a large-scale land art project "Crossroads" on the Moskva River, drawing attention to the problem of building protected areas in the Moscow region.

In 2022, Grigory Orekhov took part in the first land art project "White Forest" in K. Malevich Park with his work "Nowhere", a 250-meter red carpet laid out in a snow-white forest along linden alley.

In 2023, he created a unique sculpture “Talmud” in the middle of Lake Senezh among thickets of reeds as part of the state program for landscaping the territories of the Moscow region.

He actively participates in solo and group exhibitions. His works are in the collections of the Russian Museum, MAMM and in private collections. In addition, Grigory Orekhov holds the post of General Director of the Sculptor Foundation of the Russian Academy of Arts and is a member of the Moscow Union of Artists.

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS:

• 2024 — Dream Shuttle, Toile Blanche Contemporary, Saint-Paul-de-Vence
• 2024 — Echo, Land Art project in Malevich Park, Moscow Region
• 2023 — Red Vertical 2022, a land art project in the Moscow region
• 2021 — Crossroads, a land art project on the Moskva River, Moscow Region
• 2020 — Harvest, Land art project, Moscow region
• 2019 — Eternity, Peterhof State Museum, Saint Petersburg
• 2019 — Major Tom, installation at the Skolkovo Golf Club, Moscow
• 2019 — Salvation, Scuola Grande della Misericordia, Venice, Italy
• 2018 — Undoubtedly, the Shchusev State Museum of Architecture, Moscow
• 2017 — Agatha, GUM, Red Square, Moscow

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS:

• 2024 — Group exhibition, Gallery in the East, Compiegne, France
• 2022 — White Forest, Malevich Park, Moscow region
• 2022 — New exhibition "90th anniversary of the Moscow Union of Artists", Moscow
• 2022 — Created in Moscow, Jart Gallery, Moscow
• 2021 — A shadow of the soul, but a little sharper, Multimedia Art Museum, Moscow
• 2021 — Through and Through the Looking Glass, Museum of the 20th and 21st Centuries, St. Petersburg
• 2020 — Another reality, Gallery "O", Moscow
• 2020 — Exhibition of works by the nominees of the First Moscow Art Prize, Zaryadye, Moscow
• 2020 — Ovoid 7.1, for the exhibition of CARL FABERGE and FYODOR RÜCKERT at the Kremlin Museums, Moscow
• 2020 — Artists and Collectors at the Russian Museum, State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg
• 2019 — Personal Structures-Identities, Palazzo Mora, Venice
• 2018 — Breakthrough, Ekaterina Foundation, Moscow
• 2018 — Lilac Ladies, O Gallery, Moscow
• 2018 — KANON, O Gallery, Moscow
• 2018 — RGB, O Gallery, Moscow
• 2017 — Start, Saatchi Gallery, London
• 2017 — Reflexion, O Gallery, Moscow

SELECTED FAIRS:

• 2025 — Fair |catalog|  November, a—s—t—r—a gallery, Moscow, Russia
• 2025 — Cosmoscow, a—s—t—r—a gallery, Moscow, Russia
• 2024 — Cosmoscow, Timiryazev Center, Moscow
• 2024 — BAD, Bordeaux Art+Design, Bordeaux
• 2023 — Art Moscow, Gostiny Dvor, Moscow
• 2022 — Art Moscow, Gostiny Dvor, Moscow
• 2022 — Cosmoscow, Gostiny Dvor, Moscow
• 2021 — Cosmoscow, Manege, Moscow
• 2020 — Cosmoscow, Manege, Moscow
• 2019 — Cosmoscow, Gostiny Dvor, Moscow
• 2018 — Cosmoscow, Gostiny Dvor, Moscow
• 2017 — Cosmoscow, Gostiny Dvor, Moscow

AWARDS:

• 2024 — Gold Medal of the Russian Academy of Arts

Sergey Sonin

Born in Smolensk in 1968. Artist, director, screenwriter, producer. Studied at Semyon Aranovich's workshop for film directing at St. Petersburg State University of Cinema and Television 

Elena Samorodova

Born in Moscow in 1973. Architect, production designer and photographer. Studied at Moscow Art School №1. Graduated from the Moscow Architectural Institute, Experimental Design Group in 1998.

Sergey Sonin and Elena Samorodova (Partnership "Lead and Cobalt") are multimedia artists, working in two capitals: Moscow and St. Petersburg, founders of several art associations. Their works are in the collection of the Museum of Moscow, Krasnoyarsk Museum Center "Peace Square", Multimedia Art Museum and in private collections.

For the last decade and a half, the artists have been continuously experimenting, playing with imaginary reconstructions of the world's cultural and historical present, past and future in their works, filling them with new content. In their mystifications they also refer to time, shortening or prolonging its course, establishing “their” author's perceptions and frameworks.

SELECTED PROJECTS:

• 2023 — “Paradoxical Paradise”, a—s—t—r—a gallery, Moscow
• 2025 — Fair |catalog| November, a—s—t—r—a gallery, Moscow, Russia
• 2024 — “Utopia and Uchronia”, personal project, MMOMA Museum, Gogolevsky b-р. 10/2 , Moscow, Russia
• 2024 — Fair |catalog| December, a—s—t—r—a gallery, Moscow, Russia
• 2024 — St. Petersburg Art Fair “1703”, a—s—t—r—a gallery, Manezh, St. Petersburg, Russia
• 2024 — KONTUR Graphics Fair, a—s—t—r—a gallery, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
• 2024 — 1st GRAUND Biennale “Textile in Contemporary Art”, a—s—t—r—a gallery, GRAUND Solyanka, Moscow
• 2023 — St. Petersburg Art Fair “1703”, a—s—t—r—a gallery, Manezh, St. Petersburg
• 2023 — “Utopia and Uchronia. The Dream of a Landowner of the Middle Strip”, a—s—t—r—a gallery, Moscow
• 2022 — "Northern Arcadia", solo exhibition, City Sculpture Museum, St. Petersburg.
• 2022 — "Utopia and Uchronia", solo exhibition, Navicula Artis Gallery, St. Petersburg.
• 2019 — "Procession" video premiere, Karo-art, Oktyabr cinema, Moscow
• 2018 — "Razvilka. Personal exhibition, Krokin Gallery, Moscow
• 2016 — "Trapper's Fragment. Russian Stereo". Solo exhibition, Krokin Gallery, Moscow
• 2015 — "Russian Realism XXI century", Museum of Modern History of Russia, Moscow.
• 2015 — "Now&After" video festival.  Film "Egyptian flock".
• 2015 — "Kvadratura", - "Strategic Heritage", Tenishev ECC, Smolensk
• 2015 — auction PIASA. Russian & soviet photographs. "Gogol. Rome. From the Third to the First", Paris
• 2015 — "Enrichment of Reality", - "Strategic Heritage", A3 Gallery, Moscow
• 2015 — "Victory as a new epic", - "Strategic Heritage", Zurab Tsereteli Art Gallery, Moscow
• 2014 — "Gogol. Rome. From the Third to the First", Museum of Moscow. Personal exhibition
• 2013 — "Egyptian flock", Krasnoyarsk Museum Center, personal exhibition, Krasnoyarsk
• 2013 — "Shelter for Sniper", Transatlantic Gallery, Moscow, Parallel program of the 5th Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art. Solo exhibition
• 2013 — "Strategic Heritage", Polytechnic Museum, Moscow. Solo exhibition
• 2012 — "Hot Cold. Loft Floors, St. Petersburg
• 2012 — "Egyptian Pack. Part 1", gallery POBEDA, Moscow. Solo exhibition
• 2010 — "Divine Wind", Marble Palace, St. Petersburg
• 2009 — Exhibition "Divine Wind", Museum of Modern Art, Moscow
• 2007 — "Generals of the 70s", Yakut Gallery, Moscow
• 2005 — "Generals of the 70s", Festival "Fashion and Style in Photography", Moscow

“The universe of Elena Samorodova and Sergey Sonin is a “Russian invisible Empire”, either a post-apocalyptic world or a parallel reality, fixed in aesthetically perfect video frescoes and artifacts, such as, for example, stove tiles, which make us believe that all this happened in reality. The ordinary viewer risks getting lost in these quantum movements and, waving his hand, giving himself over to emotional and aesthetic experiences, but now we have the opportunity to talk to the authors and untangle this tangle of meanings.”

Quoted from the article “Elena Samorodova, Sergey Sonin: Over the Russian Void, through Russian Zen”

The project "Utopia and Uchronia. Dream of a Landowner of the Middle Strip"  was represented by a—s—t—r—a gallery in 2023.

“The exhibition-installation, to be more precise-a visionary interdisciplinary performance of 'Utopia and Uchronia. The dream of a middle-class landowner” is one of the variants of the embodiment of the large project of the Partnership ‘Lead and Cobalt’. It is dedicated to the Indian campaign (the turn of the 18th-19th centuries) of Emperor Paul I and Napoleon Bonaparte (then First Consul of France, and soon, in 1804, crowned Emperor of all Frenchmen).  This campaign and alliance of the two emperors almost failed to materialize in 1801. Only the assassination of Paul (in our usual linear history) stopped the advance of Russian troops towards India and put an end to the Russian-French rapprochement aimed at destroying the British dominance in the world economy and politics of the 18th-19th centuries. In the space of the project “Preparing for the Indian Campaign” the fate of the sovereign Paul the First was quite different, and the villainous conspiracy suffered a complete fiasco.”

Ivan Chechot

Exhibition “Utopia and Uchronia. Dream of a Landowner of the Middle Strip”, 2023, a—s—t—r—a gallery, Moscow

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS:

• Artguide - Year Three: the results of the 1703 art fair
• Forbes - Results of St. Petersburg art fair “1703”
• Snob - “Art owes no one anything”. A conversation between gallery owner Alina Kryukova and art historian Ivan Chechot
• BURO - New exhibitions in “HES-2”, MMOMA, “Zotov”: where to go and what to see in museums in May
• ART Knot - “I want to escape from the leveling and simplified monotony of the modern world's offerings”