Sitnikov Alexander

Alexander Sitnikov is a well-known Moscow artist of the 70s, the husband of the artist Olga Bulgakova.

Artist was born in the Iva village (Golitsinsky District, Penza Region) on February 20, 1945. In 1966 he entered the Moscow State Art Institute named after Surikov and began to take part in exhibitions. He studied in the workshop of N. A. Ponomarev and O. M. Savostyuk until the end of the Institute in 1972.

The creative path of Alexander Sitnikov originates in the legendary era of the 1970s. In that era he began to develop his own author’s mythology by using archetypical images from ancient myths of various cultures. Bulls, minotaurs, wolves, mysterious figures of mourners and musicians have become an integral part of Sitnikov’s cosmogenesis. The world history has unfolded on expanses of it. His painting is reminiscent of a fantastic mystery full of symbolism and the finest semantic interweaving. At the same time, mathematical alignment and musical rhythm give the artworks visual integrity and clarity.

In the 70s he wrote a series of works Not People — Animals and Blind Deaf-Mute. Later, in the 1980s-90s, the Burden and Demos series were released. The theme of music is close to the work of the artist — in the 1985-2000s he writes the Concerto series, as well as works devoted to D. Shostakovich and A. Schnittke. In 2000–2006, Alexander Sitnikov creates the series called “Native Speech”, “Instincts”, “Pictographs” and “Rhetoric”. In 2008–2012 — the “Puppet Theater” series and “Etudes Without Nature” series.

Since 1975 — a member of the Union of Artists of the USSR, and since 1993 — the Moscow Union of Artists. He received several awards, including the Grand Prix at the V Triennale of Contemporary Art in New Delhi (India, 1982), I Prize at the 7th Biennale of Contemporary Art in Kosice (Czechoslovakia, 1984). In 2002, A. Sitnikov was awarded the State Prize of Russia for the series “My Twentieth Century”, and in 2003 — the Silver Medal of the Russian Academy of Arts. Since 2007, he has been a corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Arts, and since 2012, he is a full member of the Russian Academy of Arts.

Selected exhibitions:

1976 “Self-portrait in Russian and Soviet art“. State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia 1982 “Aspects of Contemporary Soviet Art“. Ludwig Museum, Cologne, Aachen, Germany 1984 “Shostakovich and his time“. Duisburg, Germany 1986 “Exhibition of six Moscow artists“. Riga, Latvia 1989 Personal exhibition. City Hall of the 16th district, Paris, France 1990 “O. Bulgakova - A. Sitnikov“. International Images, Sevicley, USA 1992 CIAE. Lake Side Studio, Chicago, USA 1993 “Sleep reveals the nature of things“. State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia 1994 “Russian collection. The end of the twentieth century“. Center for Contemporary Art “M’ARS“, Moscow, Russia 1996 “Dedication to Shostakovich“. State Museum of Fine Arts named after A.S. Pushkin, Moscow, Russia 1996 Personal exhibition. “Neskuchny Sad“ Gallery, Moscow, Russia 1997 “Red color in Russian art“. State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia 1999/2001/2004 “O. Bulgakova — A. Sitnikov“. Gallery De Twee Pauwen, The Hague, Netherlands 2000 Personal exhibition. Today Gallery, Moscow, Russia 2000 Personal exhibition. Gallery “New Hermitage“, Moscow, Russia 2001 “Abstraction in Russia. XX century“. State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia 2002 “Russian Symbolism“. Ludwig Museum, Koblenz, Germany 2004 “Trialogue: A. Sitnikov, O. Bulgakova, N. Sitnikova“. Moscow Museum of Modern Art, Russia 2004 “Domestic and Wild“. State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia 2006 “Bulgakova — Sitnikov: Signs of Life“. Center for Contemporary Art M’ARS, Moscow, Russia 2006 Personal exhibition. Cultural Center “Dom“, Moscow, Russia 2007–2008 “Bulgakova — Sitnikov“. State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia 2008 “Bulgakova — Sitnikov“. Saratov State Art Museum named after Radishchev, Russia 2008 “Exhibition of one painting“. Saratov State Art Museum named after Radishchev, Art Gallery of A. A. Mylnikov, Engels, Russia 2008 As part of the exhibition and literary project of the magazine “October“. Cultural center “Pokrovsky Gate“, Moscow, Russia 2008–2009 Personal exhibition. Gallery ARTstudio ObjectONE, Moscow, Russia 2009 “Bulgakova — Sitnikov“. Mimi Ferzt Gallery, New York, USA 2010 Kunstraume. Einladung in die temporaren kulturellen zonen. Frankfurt am Main, Germany 2012 “Dialogue with the continuation“. “On Chistye Prudy“ Gallery, Moscow, Russia 2012 “Family portrait in the interior“. Museum and Creative Center “Korbakov House“, Vologda, Russia 2013 “Bulgakova — Sitnikov: painting, objects“. Ryazan State Regional Art Museum named after I.P. Pozhalostin, Russia 2014 “Moscow Time“. Open club, Moscow, Russia 2015 “Native speech“. KultProekt Gallery, Moscow, Russia 2015 “20:15“. DiDi Gallery, St. Petersburg, Russia 2017 “Olga Bulgakova, Alexander Sitnikov. Quotes“. KultProekt Gallery, Moscow, Russia 2018 Personal exhibition. Yaroslavl Art Museum, Russia 2018 “Ten Stories“. DiDi Gallery, St. Petersburg, Russia

Collections:

State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow State Russian Museum, St.Petersburg Ludwig Museum in the State Russian Museum, St.Petersburg Moscow Museum of Modern Art, Moscow Kasteev State Museum of Arts, Almaty, Kazakhstan Arhangelsk Regional Museum, Russia Briansk Rigeonal Art Museum, Russia Museum of History, Architecture and Fine Arts New Jerusalem, Istra Kemerovo Regional Museum of Fine Arts, Russia Magadan Regional Museum, Russia Novosibirsk State Art Museum, Russia The Omsk State Museum of Fine Arts, Russia Karelian State Art Museum, Petrozavodsk, Russia Rostov Regional Fine Arts Museum, Russia The Saratov State Art Museum named after A. N. Radishev, Russia The Semipalatinsk museum of Fine Arts, Russia Museum of Contemporary Art. Nurenberg, Germany Museum of Contemporary Art. Sofia, Bulgaria Ludwig Forum for International Art. Aachen, Germany Ludwig Museum of International Art in the China Art Gallery, Beijing Jane Voorhees Collection in Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey The Norton and Nancy Dodge Collection of Nonconformist Art from the Soviet Union, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA Kolodzei Collection of Russian and Eastern European Art, Kolodzei Art Foundation,USA Collection of M’ARS Centre of Contemporary Arts, Moscow