Smerdin Boris Leonidovich

In 1973, he graduated from the Moscow State Art Institute named after V.I. Surikov. From 1967, he lived and worked in Moscow. Until 1988, he exhibited graphic works. Starting from 1988, he presented assemblages, object-sculptures, paintings, and graphics at various exhibitions. From 1987 to 1992, he was a member of the 'Without the Fourth' group alongside Vladimir Kuzmin and Boris Mikhailov. Between 1989 and 1993, he worked in his own studio in Hamburg. He died in Moscow in 1993.
In 2005, Smerdin's works were included in the long-term exhibition at the Central House of Artists ‘Revision of the Material’, organized by the State Tretyakov Gallery. Only after this did the artist gain significant attention from both foreign and Russian critics, and the prices of his works at international auctions increased.

The art form currently conventionally designated as assemblage-art is, for me, the area of creativity where I find my existence natural and organic, where I can fully reveal myself and realize my potential.
I almost physically sense the relief-like metaphor and specifics of the material on which the conceived work is based.
All this allows me to freely and organically include, where necessary during the work process, any structurally-objective formations from the surrounding life that fit the concept. Their inevitable metamorphosis, once a solution is found, is accompanied by a firework of peculiar associations, connected both with real life and with the world of whimsical fantasies that sprout from it.
In the found combinations, they, along with painterly or other structures, if necessary interacting with them, acquire similar properties, outlining an imaginative space of equal emotional impact, where any attempts at superficial 'games' with texture are excluded.
Apparently, I am among those artists for whom established criteria of authorship do not always apply, since they are defined not so much by external plastic characteristics as by a certain authorial energy acting at the subconscious level, the impulses of which illuminate the characteristic author's profile. The image of the work is the very essence of the creative element. I work on very different themes. There are no non-figurative topics or subjects. Life itself suggests a multitude of them.

Boris Smerdin occupies a special place in this exhibition, considering the problem of the magical through objects, through things. In terms of style, his plasticity is easily attributed to the art of assemblage and the traditional experience of working with ready-made objects. He is undoubtedly close to pop art and the illogical nature of Dada art. But in reality, his subject goes beyond the academic approach to the object which emerged in the 20th-century avant-garde. In his personal practice, he seeks to recreate the holistic fate of an object, to recall its past life as a showcase item and its impending uselessness in the future — through the present. The artist sees all of human life through things. Each object in Smerdin’s assemblages is included in the holistic field of human life. The ordinariness of these items speaks to their ability to merge with human traits, becoming human forms of existence, acting as an extended body. For Boris Smerdin, the world is expressed through things and objects, revealing itself as a magical theatre in which objects, rather than people, play roles. The artist constantly asks himself whether the world can remain whole if a single speck of dust falls out of place, becomes unnecessary. Smerdin’s compositions gain additional meaning by returning objects from oblivion, saving them. This meaning is gratefully returned to people, confirming their uniqueness and special mission.

V. Patsyukov

State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow.
Chuvash State Art Museum, Cheboksary.
Collection of the Russian Cultural Foundation, Moscow.
Collection of the "M’ARS" Gallery, Moscow.
Zimmerli Art Museum, USA.
"Today" Gallery,
Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics in Moscow,
New Orleans Museum of Art, USA,
Cremona Fund in Maryland, USA,
private collections in Russia, USA, France, United Kingdom, Sweden, Italy, Germany.