Volkov Alexander
Alexander Volkov was born in Tashkent in 1964. Later the family moved to Leningrad.
Alexander tries to pass the entrance exams to Serov art college, but fails, and that's when his art education stops. He graduates from the College of marine instrument , followed by the army and the work that quickly bores him .
And he begins to paint, sell them on the Nevsky Prospekt in Ekaterinenskiy garden. Then Volkov enters the "Association of Free Artists", which arises at the library named after Alexander Blok on Nevsky Prospect, 20 . This moment of the artist's social status' acquisition is considered by Volkov as a very important one in his creative biography .
Volkov says that Matisse and Van Gogh, as well as Chinese painting and Japanese woodblock prints "Ukiyo-e", influenced the formation of his manner of painting. Masters of modernism taught him the generalization of form and spontaneity in an appeal to modern life.
Volkov's semi-abstract painting is built on contrasts of bright saturated spots and gray or green background. The artist likes to portray the city, its everyday life, cars and residents. He has a special vision of the city: the austere beauty of the architecture of the central part of Saint-Petersburg is balanced in his work with the bustle of traffic, with a network of wires in the narrow lumen of the city sky and bright splashes of traffic lights and signs.
According to the artist, there should be nothing unnecessary and nothing of minor importance in the art-works, and each piece of canvas should be run as a standalone picture.
Volkov Alexander Leonidovich (1964, Tashkent); Currently lives and works in St. Petersburg.
Selected Solo and Group Exhibitions
- 2012 – Man and Woman, IFA Exhibition Hall, Saint Petersburg, Russia;
- 2011 – Breakfast for Spaceman, personal exhibition, Mart Gallery, Saint Petersburg, Russia;
- 2009 – Two Spaces, personal exhibition, Guild of Masters, Saint Petersburg, Russia;
- 2008 – Verona through the eyes of foreigners, Villa Francescatti, Verona, Italy;
- 2007 – Dialogs, Manege Central Exhibition Hall, Saint Petersburg, Russia;
- 2004 – Live Environment, personal exhibition, Guild of Masters, Saint Petersburg, Russia;
- 2003 – Window on Europe. View from Petersburg, International ART-salon, Central Artist`s House, Moscow, Russia;
- 2001 – TWO WEEKS in Mayfair, Mayfair Gallery, London, UK;
- 2000 – St.Peterburg Effekt, gallery “Bloxham fine Arts”, London, UK;
- 2000 – Тhе 1Y3K, gallery “Luke & A Gallery”, London, UK;
- 2000 – All Petersburg – 99, Manege Central Exhibition Hall, Saint Petersburg, Russia;
- 1999 – Last Fall, Fedor Dostoevsky Literature and Memorial Museum, Saint Petersburg, Russia;
- 1999 – Cross-roads, personal exhibition, gallery “Nevsky 20”, Saint Petersburg, Russia;
- 1998 – The 10th anniversary of Artists Union, gallery “Nevsky 20”, Saint Petersburg, Russia;
- 1993 – Rainy Season, personal exhibition, Exhibition Hall of Moscow district, Saint Petersburg, Russia;
- 1992 – Pararealism, the Russian Museum of Ethnography, Saint Petersburg, Russia;
- 1991 – City, Manege Central Exhibition Hall, Saint Petersburg, Russia.
Selected Public and Private Collections
- Erarta Museum and Galleries of Contemporary Art, Saint Petersburg, Russia; the Blagodatovs collection, Russia;
- Private collections in Denmark, Holland, France, Germany, Italy, USA, Canada, UK, Sweden, Hong Kong, Russia.