Kirill Andreevich Protopopov
Kirill Andreevich Protopopov (born October 27, 1959, Moscow) is a Soviet and Russian sculptor and medalist.
Biography
Kirill Protopopov was born in Moscow on October 27, 1959. His family comes from St. Petersburg. His father, Andrey Vasilievich Protopopov (1916–1961), was a sculptor, and his grandfather was a co-owner of confectionery shops in St. Petersburg together with the Zimmerman family.
From childhood, Kirill Protopopov was interested in drawing and modeling. In 1970, he entered the Moscow Secondary Art School, where he studied painting. In high school, he became interested in surrealism.
In 1977, he graduated from art school and entered the Design faculty of the Moscow Higher School of Art and Industry (formerly Stroganov School). His favorite subject was art history, especially the art of Ancient Egypt, Babylon, India, China, South America, and Byzantium. He graduated from MHSI in 1982.
He first participated in an exhibition in 1984 at the gallery on Nagornaya Street, presenting his painting and design works. Soon he established himself as a medalist. He worked with Petr Dobrolyubov in the workshop of Dobrolyubov’s mother Alexandra Kuznetsova. In the mid-1980s, he became a member of the Moscow Club of Young Medalists. In 1988, he worked in a creative group in Pereslavl-Zalessky, where he created his first round sculptures: modeling wax and casting bronze animal figurines. In the early 1990s, he worked in the USA, but returned to Russia in 1992. In 1998, he received his own studio (Raspletina Street, 20).
Member of the Union of Artists of the USSR since 1984 and the Union of Artists of Russia since 1992.
Works in collections
His works are held in the State Tretyakov Gallery,
The Historical Museum, Moscow,
Nicholas Roerich Museum, New York,
and in private collections in Russia, Germany, Sweden, France, New Zealand, and the USA.
Exhibitions and auctions
1985 "Images and Profession". Moscow;
1986 "Concours de la Renaissance des Médailles". Paris;
1987 "The Artist and Time". Moscow;
1988 "Millennium of Russian Culture". Moscow;
1989 "Eberle Gallery". Stuttgart, Germany;
1990 "IX Biennale Internazionale Dantessa". Ravenna, Italy;
1991 "The History of Plastic Art". Nicolay Roerich Museum. New York;
1993 Exhibition at "M’ARS" Gallery. Moscow;
1993 "Park Place". Moscow;
1993 "Weihnachtsmesse der Kunsthandwerker 1993". Badisches Landesmuseum. Karlsruhe, Germany;
1993 "Xac Mutlicult Gallery". BFG Hochhaus. Frankfurt, Germany;
1994 "Frankfurt Airport conference centre". Frankfurt, Germany;
1994 "Russian Collection". "M’ARS" Gallery. Moscow;
1994 "Mad Gallery Eberhard". Pforzheim;
1994-1995 "Weihnachtsausstellung-Kleinplastiken und Bilder". Galerie St.Eberhard. Stuttgart, Germany;
1995 Exhibition at "NB" Gallery. Moscow;
1995 "Artistamps and the Mail Art Movement". California Museum of Art. Santa Rosa.
Author about himself
Design helped me to move from working on flat surfaces to spatial sculpture. Since 1988, using mixed techniques and various materials: ceramics, wood, decorative stone, metal, I have worked on a collection of Old and New Testament sculptures, which was first shown at the "M’ARS" Gallery in Moscow in 1993. Currently, I continue to explore and try to bridge the heritage of ancient cultures with modern civilization.
Critic
Careful study of ancient civilizations and artistic intuition allowed K. Protopopov to convey the very spirit of a harsh era with historical accuracy but without petty realism. These sculptures are monumental, despite their small size, their heavy indivisible volumes, their strict archaic ornamental patterns... On the other hand, these works clearly tend towards the avant-garde, freely combining different techniques—ceramics, metal, wood, glazes. Suprematist wooden figures embedded in ceramics, according to the author's concept, symbolize either halves of the black sun referring to suffering ("Prophet Isaiah"), or the chalice of wrath, or streams of light...
Oleg Torchinsky. "Kommersant DAILY" 25.04.93.
Bibliography
A. Shumov "Young Sculpture-86", "Moscow Artist", No. 4, 1987;
T. Kuznetsova "Pictures from the Exhibition", "Jurmala", No. 13, 1987;
"Here he lived and created", "Literaturnaya Litva", No. 2, 1988;
I. Bogdanova "Two Sides of a Medal", "Sputnik", No. 3, 1990;
O. Torchinsky "Inspired by the Bible", "Nezavisimaya Gazeta", p. 7, April 28, 1993;
O. Torchinsky "Exhibition at 'M’ARS'", "Kommersant Daily", April 25, 1993;
Ausstellung-Eroffnungen, Frankfurter Rundschau, No. 233, p.30, October 7, 1993;
O. Torchinsky "Biblical Subjects of the Sculptor", BMN, No. 8(158), p. 22, March 8, 1995;
Special sculptures, Moscow Revue 6-31, March, Issue 12, 1995.
