Aleksei Kiryanov
Graduated from the Leningrad Institute of Finance and Economics named after Voznesensky, and the Higher School of Art and Industry named after V. Mukhina. Lives and works in Saint Petersburg. Associated with the 'Paltira' Gallery in Saint Petersburg and the 'Zero' Gallery in Moscow.
Works in collections
Works are held in private collections in Russia, Cyprus, Germany, Australia, France, Belgium, the United Kingdom, the USA, Japan, Italy, Canada, the Netherlands, and Norway.
Exhibitions and auctions
1988: Association 'New Wanderers' - Young Geniuses. Art of the 21st Century; 1989: Group 'Inspiration'. Exhibition at the Maly Theater of Opera and Ballet, Leningrad, USSR; 1989: 'Stalin Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow.' Leningrad, Moscow, Vilnius, Riga, Sverdlovsk, Chelyabinsk, USSR; 1990: I Biennial of Contemporary Art, group 'Naitis.' Exhibition in the lecture hall of the State Russian Museum; 1990: Festival of Leningrad Galleries 'Spring Salon' Lenexpo, St. Petersburg. USSR-Norway. Norway; 1991: Solo exhibition. Gallery '47'. London; 1992: II Biennial of Contemporary Art, 'Ariadna' Gallery, St. Petersburg, Russia; 1992: Spring Salon Lenexpo, St. Petersburg, Russia; 1992: International Art Exhibition 'Tias', Tokyo; 1992: Solo exhibition 'Amazing Diversity', 'Palitra' Gallery, St. Petersburg, Russia; 1993: 'Art-Collegium', State Russian Museum. St. Petersburg, Russia; 1993: Metropolitan Museum. Tokyo; 1993: Art Expo. New York; 1993: 'Art-MIF III'. Moscow; 1994: 'Art-Collegium', 'Klevidonpir' Gallery, UK; 1994: Solo exhibition 'Objects and Personae', Central House of Artists on Krymsky Val, Moscow; 1994: Solo exhibition, 'Palitra' Gallery. St. Petersburg, Russia; 1995: 'Museums and Collections', Düsseldorf, Germany; 1996: 'Art Moscow.' Manezh. Moscow; 1997: 'All of Petersburg.' St. Petersburg, Russia; 1997: 'Art Moscow.' Moscow; 1998: International Moscow Art Salon CDH, Alla Bulyanskaya Gallery. Moscow; 1998: Moscow 'Art Salon', Central Exhibition Hall 'Manezh', Alla Bulyanskaya Gallery. Moscow.
Critic
Kiryanov's protagonists are often jesters and mimes, beneath whose comic hats hides a strange and bitter wisdom. Essentially, his canvas depicts one protagonist who, moving from one situation or even era to another, changes along with them. Yet he is always alone in a shifting world, accepting its futility and vanity with a sorrowful and all-forgiving irony. The artist persistently shapes form with a subtle touch; his brushwork is spare yet refined, with undeniable artistry. Kiryanov's characters exist in a beautiful but cold, almost lifeless world, and a note of hopeless loneliness—a hallmark of any sage—resonates in each painting. The sorrow of knowledge is a constant refrain in Kiryanov's canvases. Undoubtedly, the knowledge he instills in his protagonists (and shares with them) gives his works significance, while the nobility of his palette helps overcome sadness by dissolving it in color harmony. — Mikhail Gernan.
Bibliography
Almanac 'Respectable Modernism', 1995; 'Three Centuries of Russian Painting', Belgium, 1995.
Works 11
