Ovchinnikov Nikolai Nikolaevich
1958 Born in Moscow
1978 Graduated from the Moscow Art School in Memory of 1905 (Theatre Faculty)
1986-88 Participant of the 'Central Russian Upland' group
Since 1993 Member of the Moscow Union of Artists (MSKh)
Works in collections
Neue Galerie - Sammlung Ludwig, Aachen, Germany
Firma 'Savva', Moscow
Firma 'Ecart', Firma 'Orfan', Firma 'J.M.Wilmote', Paris, France
Firma 'Joe Pytka', Los Angeles, USA
P.Sprovieri, Rome, Italy
J.-C.Tuilier
A.Putman, Paris, France
Exhibitions and auctions
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
1988 "Das Leben der Zaren" (installation). Kommunale Galerie, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
1989 "Tableau d'une exposition". Le Base, Levallois, France
1990 Froment-Putman Gallery, Paris, France
1991 Usine de Meru, Meru, France
1992 Galerie Froment-Putman, Paris, France
1993 "ART MYTH 3". Gallery 14. Manezh, Moscow
1995 "Dialecture I". Cultural Center "Phoenix", Moscow
"Dialecture II". French Cultural Center. Library of Foreign Literature, Moscow
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
1982-86 All-Union Youth Exhibitions. Moscow
1986 "Oh, Malta". Embassy of the Republic of Malta, Moscow
"Art Against Commerce" (action-exhibition). Bitsevsky Park, Moscow
XVII Youth Exhibition. House of Artists on Kuznetsky Most, Moscow
1987 "Retrospective of Moscow Artists' Creativity. 1957-1987". l/o "Hermitage", Profsoyuznaya 100, Moscow
First Exhibition of the Club of Avant-Gardists (KLAVA). Peresvetov Lane, Moscow
"Artist and Modernity". First Creative Association of Moscow Artists. "Kashirka", Moscow
1988 Galerie Inge Baecker, Cologne, Germany
"Geometry in Art". "Kashirka", Moscow
"Bathhouse" (action-exhibition). Club of Avant-Gardists. Men's Section of Sandunov Baths, Moscow
Second Exhibition of the Club of Avant-Gardists. Peresvetov Lane, Moscow
"8 Soviet Artists". Galerie de France, Paris, France
"ART Messe". Basel, Switzerland
"Le chiffre". Pac Floral, Paris, France
"ARCO". Galerie de France, Madrid, Spain
"Labyrinth". Palace of Youth, Moscow
"ISKKUNSTVO 1". DAAD-KLAVA. Moscow; Berlin, Germany
1989 "Expensive Art". Palace of Youth, Moscow
"Perspectives of Conceptualism". Peresvetov Lane, Moscow
New Jerusalem (action-exhibition). Club of Avant-Gardists. New Jerusalem, Moscow Region
"ISKKUNSTVO 2". Exhibition Hall on Frunzenskaya Embankment, Moscow; Berlin
"Art Contemporaine Sovietique". Hotel de Ville, Strasbourg, France
"Jenseits des Streites - Neue Sowjetische Kunst". Kringst Ernest Galerie. Cologne, Germany
1990 ISKKUNSTVO. Kulturhuset, Stockholm, Sweden
"XLIV Esposizione Internazionale DArte". La Biennale di Venezia. Aperto. Venice, Italy "Toward the Object". Kashirka, Moscow "Les Ateliers". Hopital Ephemere, Paris, France "FIAC 90". Kringst Ernest Galerie. Paris, France "MESSA". Kringst Ernest Galerie. Cologne, Germany "The Work of Art in the Age of Perestroika". Phyllis Kind Gallery, New York, USA 1991 "Shared Earth". Peterborough Museum, Peterborough, UK "Decouvertes". Froment-Putman Galerie, Paris, France "In de USSR en Erbuiten". Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands "Paysages". Saint-Juernié, France "Perspectives of Conceptualism". The University of Hawaii Art Gallery, Honolulu; Clocktower Gallery, Public School 1, New York, USA "FIAC 91". Froment-Putmen Galerie, Paris, France "Between Heaven and Earth". Hopital Ephemere, Paris, France "MANI Museum - 40 Moscow Artists at the Frankfurt Carmelite Monastery". MANI. Frankfurt am Main, Germany 1992 "a Mosca... a Mosca...". Villa Campoleto, Ercolano; Galleria Comunale dArte Moderna, Bologna, Italy
"FIAC 92". Froment-Putman Galerie, Paris, France
1992-93 "Perspectives of Conceptualism". North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, USA
"Humanitarian Aid, Parcels for Germany. 27 Moscow Artists". Central House of Artists, Moscow; "Humanitare Hilfe, Packchen fur Deutschland". Tranenpalast, Berlin, Germany
1993 "Collection dArt Contemporain RINACO. Moscow 1993". Caisse des Depots et Consignations - 56 rue Jacob, Paris, France "Adresse provisoire pour lart contemporain russe". Musee de la Poste, Paris, France
"Conversion". M.Gelman Gallery. Central House of Artists, Moscow
"MESSA BASEL". Galerie Kringst Ernest, Basel, Switzerland
1995 "Art in Hidden. Russian Nonconformists 1957-1995". Collection of Contemporary Art of the Tsaritsyno Museum-Reserve. Wilhelm-Hack Museum, Ludwigshafen am Rhein; Documenta-Halle, Kassel; Staatliches Lindenau Museum, Altenburg, Germany
"Walks Beyond the Horizon". Profsoyuznaya 100, Moscow
"Copyright-96". Aidan Gallery, Moscow
"About Home". Profsoyuznaya 100, Moscow
"Charity Auction for the Burn Center of Children's Hospital No.9. Contemporary Russian Painting and Graphics". Sotheby's, "ART MYTH". Metropol Hotel, Moscow
Author about himself
No data available
Critic
The artist's movement towards what became known in Moscow in the 1970s as 'conceptualism' was gradual. His paintings from the late 1970s to early 1980s—delicate still lifes, poetic landscapes, and his scenography—were not imitations of tradition, but rather a sincere and organic part of it. This genuine attachment to accepted tradition allowed him to arrive at a very original artistic practice. Nikolai Ovchinnikov dives into a nostalgia for the past of Russian culture, for the Russian past. Sometimes this nostalgia bears ironic tones, but more often it has an enveloping quality. It is as if a film, bearing half-erased traces of past masterpieces (or birch bark painting), stretches over what surrounds us. This film is thin, yet elastic and impervious. Lacking its own depth, it transforms the familiar environment, making it aesthetically attractive. It is somewhat akin to an artificial patina. The conflict between the reality of things and their seductive covering is a very interesting achievement of the artist. Another important feature of Ovchinnikov's work is his ability to move easily from style to style, from material to material. Both medium and style are masterfully used tools, serving to create the film and stretch it over reality.
N. Alekseev. "Nikolai Ovchinnikov." From the exhibition catalogue "Adresse provisoire pour l`art contemporain russe", Musee de la Poste. Paris, 1993
Bibliography
No data available
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