Milchenko Sergey Grigorievich

Born on February 25, 1962, in Solnechnogorsk, Moscow region, into a military family. From childhood, he was fond of modeling with clay and plasticine. He graduated from Moscow Secondary Art School (1980) and the sculpture department of the Kharkov Art and Industrial Institute (1985). After serving in the army (1986–1987), he worked in various artist residencies.
Already during his student years, he began participating in regional and zonal exhibitions. In the early 1980s, his works were shown at the First and Second Sculpture Exhibitions and at the “Boldino Autumn” exhibition. Later, personal exhibitions by Sergey Milchenko were held in Moscow, other cities in the Moscow region, and elsewhere in Russia. In 1995, he participated in his first major international exhibition “Art in Action” in London. Subsequently, his works were shown at foreign exhibitions in Suffolk (UK, 1997), Oxford (UK, 1998), London (UK, 2005), Sente (France, 2010), Paris (France, 2013), Büdelsdorf (Germany, 2014), and other cities. A member of the USSR Artists' Union since 1987. Member of the International Association of Christian Artists since 1999.
Since 2001, S.G. Milchenko has been the chair of the sculpture section of the Moscow regional branch of the Union of Artists of Russia. That year, he also joined the sculpture commission of the Union of Artists of Russia. In 2004, he was elected a corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Arts. Since 2013, he has worked as a senior lecturer in the department of sculpture and composition at the Surikov Moscow State Academic Art Institute.
Since 2018, S.G. Milchenko has been a full member of the RAA in the sculpture section.

Sergey Milchenko works in both easel and monumental sculpture. He uses a wide range of materials: bronze, wood, stone, glass, ceramics, alabaster, chamotte. His works span various styles—from classical to avant-garde.
In the early stage of his career, Milchenko worked in the technique of wooden polychrome sculpture (“Girl from Prokhody village”, “The Grandchildren Left”, “Me and the Horse”). In these works, the traditions of folk art, motives of Ukrainian folklore, Russian parsuna painting, and the aesthetics of classical sculpture intertwine. The quintessence of this creative period is the sculpture “Bohdan Khmelnytsky”.
The Perestroika period significantly broadened the scope of Milchenko's creative search. In the late 1980s, he began a substantial series of works based on biblical and gospel stories, which brought him wide acclaim. Works on “eternal themes” are characterized by the artist’s unique interpretation, often diverging from canonical views (“Return of the Prodigal Son”), a distinctly individual artistic touch, and original iconography. A special place is occupied by multi-figure, solemn-epic compositions with well-constructed mise-en-scène and carefully considered psychology of each character (“The Last Supper”, “An Episode in the Garden of Gethsemane”).
His religious works are created in both Romanesque and Eastern European traditions. The former is represented in stone (“Entry into Jerusalem”, “The Descent from the Cross”, “Resurrection of Christ”), the latter—in wood (“Midnight Savior”, “Guardian Angel”). As academician A.I. Rukavishnikov noted, “His biblical plots create a mysterious and solemn space around them; the surface of the stone preserves the volume, not pandering to the viewer with a variety of textures…”
In his art, Sergey Milchenko has managed to go beyond confessional boundaries. His works can be found both in Orthodox churches (“Crucifixion” in the church of Troitskoye, Moscow region, royal and deacon's gates in the church of the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia in Petrovsky Park in Moscow) and in Anglican churches (“Midnight Savior” in the Ascension Church of Woodchester, Gloucestershire; sculptural composition “Deisus” and processional cross in the Monastery of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Walsingham, Norfolk).
A particular aspect of Milchenko’s creative work is his collaboration with artist Anatoly Brusilovsky, resulting in a gallery of sculptural works in the surrealist genre. Milchenko has skillfully embodied the drawings of the Odessa avant-garde artist in volumetric form. Famous sculptor L.M. Baranov compared his colleague’s work to the art of a jeweler. The joint project “Faces” by Brusilovsky and Milchenko, presented at the “Cabinet Sculpture” exhibition in 2013, caused a wide resonance and, according to Brusilovsky, became an event in Russian sculpture.
Milchenko has also paid attention to the nude genre (“Between Heaven and Earth”, “Cleopatra”, “Dance of Salome”). His works are provocative and often “beyond the edge”, yet they convey the beauty and plasticity of the female form with expressive grace.
In his oeuvre, Sergey Milchenko also turns to the challenging type of sculpture known as relief. Notably, he created the monumental reliefs “Capture of Izmail” and “Assault on the Devil's Bridge” for the monument to A.V. Suvorov in Yekaterininsky Park, Moscow. He also works extensively in the genre of sculptural portraiture (“Dante”, “Picasso at the Corrida in Vallauris”, “Denis Davydov”, “Princess Sophia”). Among his works are homages to Renaissance sculptors as well as Rodin, Magritte, and Dali, who, according to the artist himself, expand the boundaries of his vision and help in producing realistic works. Additionally, he experiments in the field of installation art. He also created the sculptural group “Chinese Comrades” for the play “Go and Stop Progress” at the Taganka Theatre (director Y. Lyubimov).
Milchenko’s monumental works are in demand. His pieces adorn the streets and squares of Moscow (Memorial of Glory to Interior Ministry Soldiers), Ruza (Monument to the Unknown Soldier), Tobolsk (Monument to A.A. Alyabyev), Kharkov (Monument to Andrew the First Called), Simferopol (Memorial to the Victims of the Nazi Occupation of Crimea 1941–1944), and other cities.
According to poet and publicist G.N. Krasnikov, Milchenko's works are "like philosophical treatises, gospel parables, ancient myths, and legends… His sculptures are heroes and villains, sinners and righteous, protagonists on the stage of history. S. Milchenko organizes mise-en-scène superbly, introducing ever more new characters into the world drama…"
Sergey Milchenko’s works are held in the Tretyakov Gallery, museums in Serpukhov, Novosibirsk, Pereslavl-Zalessky, Nizhny Tagil, and in private collections in the USA, France, the Netherlands, and the UK.

=== Monumental Works ===
Reliefs for the facade of the Tambov Institute of Culture (1989, Tambov).
Midnight Savior (1993, Woodchester, UK).
Sculptural composition "Deisus" (1995, Walsingham, UK).
Reliefs "Capture of Izmail" and "Assault on the Devil's Bridge" (2007, Moscow, Yekaterininsky Park).
Memorial of Glory to Interior Ministry Soldiers (2009, Moscow).
Monument "To the Unknown Soldier" (2011, Ruza).
Monument to Andrew the First Called (2013, Kharkov, with A. Ridny).
Monument to A.A. Alyabyev (2017, Tobolsk).
Bust of Sergei Yesenin (2018, Pliska, Bulgaria).
Monument to Protopope Avvakum (2021, Tobolsk).

=== Easel Works ===
"The Mistress" (1986, Serpukhov Art Museum).
"Flight into Egypt" (1988, Nizhny Tagil Museum of Fine Arts).
"Difficult Years" (1996, Novosibirsk Art Gallery).
"Entry into Jerusalem" (2000, State Tretyakov Gallery).

People’s Artist of the Russian Federation (May 30, 2025)—for outstanding achievements in fine arts.
Honored Artist of the Russian Federation (February 2, 2004)—for achievements in art.
Medal “In Memory of the 850th Anniversary of Moscow” (February 26, 1997).
Gold Medal of the Russian Academy of Arts (May 13, 2008).
Silver Medal of the Russian Academy of Arts (June 24, 2003).
Medal “For Merit to the Academy” of the Russian Academy of Arts (April 25, 2017).