BIO
I was born in August 1967 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. During World War II the city became a destination for people from different corners of the former Soviet Union. Writers and workers, scientists and government officials, party bosses and peasants lived side by side. Evacuees from Russia, Ukraine and Moldavia, from the annexed territories of Eastern Poland and the Baltic states, were looking for shelter, often to save their lives. So I grew up in an atmosphere of tolerance and respect for other cultures.
I have always been surrounded by artists, musicians, actors and book lovers. My father was himself an artist, and my mother encouraged reading, theatre trips, concerts, home plays and artistic endeavours.
As I grew older I spent a lot of time in my father’s studio surrounded by artists. Some of them, my father included, became my mentors. I always knew I wanted to be an artist, and started my journey at an art college as a 14 year old, later graduating from the Benkov College of Arts in Tashkent, and then gaining my Bachelor of Arts from Saint Petersburg University (then called Leningrad).
In 1989 I migrated to Australia, and became a citizen in 1991.
EDUCATION
Bachelor of Arts, Saint Petersburg University
Solo Exhibitions
2020 – Current online exhibition: Art Screen TV
2012 – St Kilda Town Hall, St Kilda, Australia
2010 – Malvern Town Hall, Malvern, Australia
2009 – Dogs Bar, St Kilda, Australia
2004 – ‘Fantastic Universe’ Goya Galleries, Docklands, Australia
1996 – ‘Self Expression’, The Jackman Gallery, St Kilda, Australia
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2019 – Group exhibition in Brunswick Street Gallery and winner of the Fifty Squared Art Prize
2019 – Winner of the International Prize Caravaggio Great Master Of Art in Milan, Italy
2019 – Art works were featured in Art International Contemporary magazine and published next to one of Caravaggio’s masterpieces
2018 – Digital exhibition in New York, Agora Gallery
2018 – International group exhibition in Rome, ‘Segnalati Rome’
2013 – Gallery 9, Collingwood, Australia
2011 – Studio 106, St Kilda, Australia
2008 – ‘From Down Under & Beyond’ Agora Gallery, New York, USA
2005 – Temple Gallery, Sorrento, Australia
1996 – Linden Gallery, St Kilda, Australia
1996 – Art Gallery, Brunswick, Australia
1995 – Linden Gallery, St Kilda, Australia
1995 – Caulfield Art Centre, Caulfield, Australia
1994 – Linden Gallery, St Kilda, Australia
1994 – Caulfield Art Centre, Caulfield, Australia
1993 – Linden Gallery, St Kilda, Australia
1989 – Gorky Street Gallery, St Petersburg, Russia
PUBLIC COMMISSIONS
1993 – ‘Lady of St Kilda’ spanning the railway bridge, Carlisle St, Balaclava/St Kilda. Mural/Sculpture commissioned by St Kilda City Council, Melbourne, Australia. Restored by City of Port Phillip 2014/2015.
MUSEUMS
2020 – Portrait of the Sultan of Johor installed in the Mersing Museum in Malaysia