Mikhail Viktorovich Molochnikov
Mikhail Viktorovich Molochnikov (born November 19, 1963, Moscow) is a Russian artist.
Biography
He graduated from the Moscow Architectural Technical School in 1984. Since 2004, he has been a member of the German Association of Artists BBK. He is one of the founders and members of the MTM Group, with whom he carries out projects in the "artist's book" genre.
Mikhail Molochnikov has participated in major group projects in the format of livre d'artiste, including: City as the Subjectivity of an Artist, St. Petersburg, 2020; Yellow Sound (on the 85th Anniversary of Alfred Schnittke), Moscow, 2019; Birds and Numbers (on the 130th Anniversary of Velimir Khlebnikov), St. Petersburg, 2015; Book at the Edge of Contemporary Art, St. Petersburg-Moscow, 2013.
He lives and works in Berlin and Moscow.
Works in collections
State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia
State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia
Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow, Russia
Tampere Museum of Contemporary Art, Finland
European Commercial Bank, Moscow
Bank 'Niftek', Moscow
Bank 'Informtekhnika', Moscow
Alfa Alliance Bank, Moscow
Baltvneshtorgbank, Kaliningrad
Kaliningrad Art Gallery, Kaliningrad
Siberian Commercial Bank, Novosibirsk
Galerie Basmadjan, Paris, France
West Bow Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland
Kolodzei Art Foundation, USA
N. Shchukin, M. Kamensky, S. Adzhubey, Moscow
Exhibitions and auctions
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
1992 - "Secret Signs". "A3" Gallery, Moscow
1994 - "Untitled". "Salon" Gallery, Moscow
1994 - "Insects and People". Kaliningrad Art Gallery, Kaliningrad
1995 - "House of Shchukin". Municipal Gallery "Helikon", Moscow
1996 - "Birds-Fishes", "Velta" Gallery. "Dar" Gallery, Moscow
1997 - "M-16". "Velta" Gallery, Moscow
1999 - "Sensual Penetration". Grand Marriott Hotel, Moscow
2000 - "Dances of Kali-Yuga". "Dom" Gallery, Moscow
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
1989 - "Art London 90". "The Russian Collection", London, UK
1990 - "Ki Principle". Central House of Artists, Moscow
"Jalokivia Mudassa/Jewels in the Mud". Tampere Art Museum, Tampere, Finland
"Moscow in Cambridge". King's College, Cambridge, UK
1991 - "Contemporary Artists for Malevich". State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow
"Book-Art". Palace of Youth, Moscow
1992 - "In Richtung zu Malewitsch". "Karenina Galerie", Vienna, Austria
"Malevich Center at the Paleontological Museum". Paleontological Museum, Moscow
"Neue Russische Buchkunst". Lyrik Kabinett, Munich, Germany
1993 - "Art Expo 93". "Arka" Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
"New Names". Traverse Centre, Edinburgh, Scotland
"Image and Symbol". Art College, Edinburgh, Scotland
"ART MYTH 3". "Nina" Gallery, "Moscow Fine Art" Gallery. Manege, Moscow
"Graphics Exhibition". "Moscow Fine Art" Gallery, Moscow
1994 - "Kaliningrad - Konigsberg" (III International Biennale of Graphic Art). Kaliningrad Art Gallery, Kaliningrad
"The Kolodzei Collection". City Arts Center, Oklahoma City, USA
1995 - "Carnival". Central House of Artists, Moscow
1995 - "Tanya and Natasha Kolodzei Collection". City Center, Oklahoma City, USA
"Carnival", "Nina" Gallery. Central House of Artists, Moscow
"A-1, A-2, A-3". "A-3" Gallery, Moscow
1996 - "Galleries in the Gallery", "Nina" Gallery. State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow
"New Russian Art" Colodzei Collection. Georgetown University Art Gallery, Washington, USA
Sotheby's. Baltschug Kempinski Hotel, Moscow
Selections from the Colodzei Collection. Atrium Art Gallery, Morristown, New Jersey, USA
1997 - "The World of Sensuous Things in Pictures - Late XX Century", MAR'S Gallery. Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow
International Art Fair "Art-Manezh", "Pan-Dan" Gallery. Manezh, Moscow
Book Fair 97. Frankfurt, Germany
Author about himself
No information available.
Critic
As the 20th century ends, the evening of the world descends, creating in its twilight many secret, intimate spiritual worlds. Art is shrouded in mystery and acquires supernatural vision. 'The owl of Minerva flies at dusk,' Hegel liked to repeat. Few artists manage to express this unique state of the era, when the historical idea is exhausted and the metaphysical one blooms, when the voracious caterpillar of civilization disappears and its immortal soul—culture—suddenly flutters out.
The work of Mikhail Molochnikov belongs to this unique phase of history, this sphere of insight, when metaphysical sensitivity to the ultimate questions of existence sharpens. Hence his inner search—gnosticism and hermetism, magic and metaphysics, an organic convergence of Neopythagoreanism with Zen art and Tantrism. It is, in fact, impossible to separate the artist's life from his art—it is no less enigmatic than his art and full of mysterious signs and mystical occurrences—like an imprint of his sacred masks and labyrinthine structures.
Contemplating the picture of the world, he seeks support in pre-Renaissance cultures, when optical and distanced perception of the world was not the supreme arbiter. 'We are invisible beings,' after Maeterlinck, Mikhail Molochnikov repeats. The artist's compositions hold within them a world of looking glass, and it is enough to take one step to find oneself on the reverse side of reality, in the world of spiritual and mysterious entities akin to the worlds of Borges and Nabokov. His toolkit includes dreams, free associations, illumination of fundamental layers of the subconscious, intrusion into the most forbidden depths of the psyche. There arises a true universality of images, sometimes attaining a universal scale, generating mandala-like images. Hence also the 'festive madness' of the artist, the paradoxes, and the provocative eccentricity, rhymed with meditation, and the rebellious playful freedom that overturns all norms and rules.
Undoubtedly, this artistic system is stylistically linked with postmodernism, with its 'magical' line, rationalization of irrational forces. It is actualized by a situation where fundamental changes are sensed, where stable life frameworks are violated and deep shifts occur, as today in Russia. However, unlike many of his contemporaries, Mikhail Molochnikov is not fettered to a situation limited by certain dates. His works have in essence a distant temporal perspective. This is the poetics of the eternal and immutable origins of life, passing, as catharsis, through chaos and illogicality, leading ultimately to deeply positive and constructive results.
What information do Mikhail Molochnikov's compositions convey? Looking to the future, we, the master's contemporaries, ask whether our descendants will be able, through the mirror of his books, masks, labyrinths, and screens, to gain an idea of the people of our time and our lives? Obviously, this will be completely special information—about how people saw themselves from within, about their doubts and fears, their premonitions and self-cautions, their self-irony, and their faith in enduring values.
- V. Patsyukov, "We are invisible beings." (abridged) - Krasota, 1995, No. 1, Moscow
Works 9
