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Erarta Museum of Contemporary Art is located at: 2, 29th line of Vasilievsky Ostrov, St. Petersburg
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Dmitriy Plavinskiy

about the artist

Dmitry Plavinsky (1937–2012) is one of the key representatives of the Moscow Nonconformist Art of the second half of XX century, he created his own symbolic philosophy and deep analysis system. Dmitry Plavinskiy was gifted with a powerful energy and at the same time he tended to profound analysis in his work. The art of this artist is now being recognized all over the world.

Each work of Plavinsky is a multilayer artistic structure. Any texture or shape, whether of a manmade artifact or of an organic element, is interpreted by him as a part of multi-faceted symbol, essential for deep understanding of the universe. The author perceives the universe as Mono-Time, which is a closed-circuit system, a solid multi-texture layering of the memory of the past, dynamic of the present and knowledge of the future.

The image morphology in Plavinsky's works is fickle and a subject of metamorphosis. There is always an invisible presence of non-being, when the image itself doesn't exist yet but the foresight of its final destruction and dissolution hangs thick in the air.

Cathedral ruins in flames, an abandoned church devoured by sprawling trees, a shabby boat buried in snow, are not the visions of the ends of civilizations, but the artifacts reminiscent of the eternal journey, where the final always coincides with the starting point.

For Plavinsky an image is equivalent to a sound. The artist is able to capture and reflect the tone of any object. The sound here is primarily the biblical prehistoric Logos, conformal to the first naming of the object, and inaugurating the moment of image nativity from nothingness.
The artist's works can't be perceived with a unified interpretation of a visible object. A simple tree cross-section looks like a map of the Universe, and a silhouette of an old Scarecrow reminds a prophet's figure. A Viking ship resembles a zoomorphic creature of unhuman power or a pagan demon. A decayed leaf is allegorized as a part of the cosmic matter, and the surface of the leaf turns into space width and length.

Plavinsky's art works are always dynamic and change in the process of perception. His multilayered paintings, collages and etchings seem to be made out of complex textures that can be eternally looked at. There is no fixed composition; the space is fractionized into multiple details. And it's not a coincidence that many works have panoramic composition which indicates that we manifested image is only a fragment of a bigger immaterial substance.

Elizaveta Shagina
Plavinskiy Dmitriy

Born on 28 April, 1937 in Moscow.

From 1951 to 1956 studied at the Theater Design Department of the 1905 Institute of Art, class of A. Shestakov, a former chief artist of the Vsevolod Meyerhold's Theater.

In 1957 worked at the international artists' studio at Gorky Park and participated in the exhibition of the VI International Festival of Youth and Students in Moscow. 

From 1958 to 1965 travelled around the country: visited Central Asia and northern Russian towns (Pskov, Kostroma, Ferapontovo).
Starting from 1960 participated in numerous international exhibitions of nonconformists in the U.S., England, Italy, Germany, France, Switzerland, Denmark, and Japan.

From 1975 a member and a regular participant of exhibitions of the Moscow Joint Committee of Graphic Artists on Malaya Gruzinskaya Street.

In 1975 participated in the exhibition at Beekeeping Pavilion on VDNKh (Moscow).

From 1978 a member of the Soviet Union of Artists.

From 1991 to 2004 lived and worked in New York.

In 2000 Rizzoli International Publications released the book: Dmitri Plavinsky / J. E. Bowlt, A. Jakimovich, E. Plavinskaya-Mikhailova, D. Plavinsky. - New York: Rizzoli International Publications, 2000.

In 2004 the State Tretyakov Gallery presented his personal retrospective exhibition.

In 2009 MMOMA presented author's exhibition "Alone in the Search for the Meaning of Life". Curator Igor Metelitsyn.

In 2009 Open gallery held a joint exhibition by Dmitry Plavinsky and Maria Plavinskaya "Music of Spheres".

In 2010 Igor Metelitsyn's Gallery presented a solo exhibition by Dmitry Plavinsky "Works of new decade".

In 2011 Polina Lobachevskaya Gallery presented the artist's solo exhibition "Plavinsky Today" at The Chekhov House Exhibition Hall.

Lived and worked in New York and Moscow.

Dmitry Plavinsky died on 1 September, 2012 in Moscow.

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

  • 1960-61 – Solo exhibitions in apartment of art critic Ilya Tsyrlin, Moscow.
  • 1960 – Scientist's Club of the Nuclear Physics, Dubna.
  • 1985 – Cultural Club, I.V. Kurchatov's Institute of Nuclear Energy, Moscow.
  • 1990 – "Dmitry Plavinsky", Today Gallery, Moscow.
  • 1993 – "Dmitry Plavinsky", Alex-Edmund Gallery, New York (USA).
  • 1993 – "Dmitry Plavinsky", Reception House, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Moscow.
  • 1995 – "Dmitry Plavinsky", Dom Nashchokina Gallery, Moscow.
  • 1995 – "Echo Ancient Ruins", Mimi Ferzt Gallery, New York.
  • 1998 – "Dmitry Plavinsky", Gallery Kino, Moscow Auction House, Moscow.
  • 1998 – "Dmitry Plavinsky. In search of Italy", Mimi Ferzt Gallery, New York.
  • 2000 – "Dmitry Plavinsky. The Images of the World", Mimi Ferzt Gallery, New York.
  • 2000 – "Dmitry Plavinsky. Holy Land", Mimi Ferzt Gallery, New York.
  • 2004 – Retrospective exhibition "Dmitry Plavinsky", The State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow.
  • 2006 – "Etching. All states", Paperwork gallery, Moscow.
  • 2009 – "Music of the Spheres", together with Maria Plavinskaya, Open gallery, Moscow.
  • 2010 – "Work of new decade", Igor Metelitsyn's Gallery, Moscow.
  • 2011 – "Dmitry Plavinsky today", Exhibition Hall "Chekhov House", Polina Lobachevskaya Gallery, Moscow.
  • 2014 – "Structures of Time", together with Maria Plavinskaya, Erarta Museum of Contemporary Art, St. Petersburg.

 

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

  • 1957 – The Third Exhibition of Young Moscow Artists, The House of Artists, Moscow. Exhibition of Young Soviet Artists, Sixth World Festival of Youth and Students, Moscow. International artists workshops, Gorky Park, Sixth World Festival of Youth and Students, Moscow.
  • 1958 – "Plavinsky, Kharitonov, Kulakov", The Moscow State University, Moscow. "The Fourth Exhibition of Young Moscow Artists", The House of Artists, Moscow.
  • 1959 – "The Fifth Exhibition of Young Moscow Artists", The House of Artists, Moscow.
  • 1960 – Exhibition in the Apartment of George Costakis, Moscow.
  • 1962-67 – Exhibition in the House of Edmund and Nina Stevens, Moscow.
  • 1964 – "Aspects of Contemporary Soviet Art", Grosvenor Gallery, London.
  • 1967 – "Exhibition of Twelve Artists", "Friendship" ("Druzhba") Club on Shosse Entuziastov, Moscow. "A Survey of Russian Painting from the Fifteenth Century to the Present", Gallery of Modern Art, New York (USA). "Fifteen Young Artists from Moscow", Gallery Il Segno, Rome (Italy).
  • 1969 – "New Moscow School", Gallery Behr, Stuttgard (Germany), Gallery Interior, Frankfurt (Germany), Gallery Pananti, Florence (Italy).
  • 1970 – "Open-Air Exhibition", House of Edmund and Nina Stevens, Moscow. "Russian Avant-Garde in Moscow today", Gallery Gmurzynska, Cologne (Germany). "New trends in Moscow", Fine Arts Museum, Lugano (Italy). "Panorama of the Young Slavic Painting", L'Atelier du Soleil, Versoix, Geneva (Switzerland). "Alexei Smirnov and Russian Avant-Garde in Moscow", Kunstgalerie Villa Egli-Keller, Zurich (Switzerland).
  • 1974 – "Progressive Tendencies in Moscow: 1957–1970", Museum Bochum (Germany). "8 Artists from Moscow", Musée de Peinture et de la Sculpture, Grenoble (France).
  • 1975 – "Twenty Muscovite Artists", Beekeeping Pavilion, VDNKh, Moscow. "Russian February 1975 in Vienna", Kunsterhaus, Vienna (Austria). "Russian Nonkonformist Artists". From Alexander Glezer Collection, Kunstverein, Braunschweig (Germany).
  • 1976 – "Seven Artists", Moscow Joint Committee of Graphic Artist on Malaya Gruzinskaia Street, Moscow; Musée Russe en Exil, Montgeron (France). II European biennial of engravings, Mulhouse (France). "Alternatives", from the Glezer Collection, Kunstverein, Esslingen (Germany).
  • "Russian Contemporary Painting, from Musée Russe en Exil (Montgeron) Collection, Palais des Congres, Paris (France).
  • 1976–78 – "New Art from the Soviet Union from the Norton Dodge Collection", St. Louis; Herbert F. Johnson Museum, Cornell University, Itaka; The Arts Club of Washington, Washington, D.C.; Kiplinger Editors Building, Washington, D.C. (USA).
  • 1977 – "Russian and Soviet Painting", an Exhibition from the Museums of the USSR, The Metropolitan Museum of Art New York; The Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco (USA). "Unofficial Art from the Soviet Union. In collaboration with Musée Russe en Exil (Montgeron), Institute of Contemporary Art, London (UK). "Painting", Moscow Joint Committee of Graphic Artist on Malaya Gruzinskaia Street, Moscow. "New Soviet Art. Unofficial Perspective", La Biennale di Venezia, Palzzetto dello sport all'Arsenale, Venice (Italy). "Art and Matter", Orangerie de Luxembourg, Paris (France).
  • 1978 – "Contemporary Unofficial Soviet Art", in collaboration with Musée Russe en Exil (Montgeron), Municipal Museum, Tokyo, (Japan). "New Soviet Unofficial Art", Bellizona (Switzerland). "New Soviet Art", In collaboration with Musée Russe en Exil (Montgeron), La Biennale di Turin, Palazzo Reale, Turin (Italy). "Russian Unofficial Art", Musée du Vieux Château de Laval, Laval; Musée des Beaux-Arts de Tour, Tour; Musée des Beaux-Arts de Chartre, Chartre (France).
  • 1979 – "Twenty Years of Independence of Soviet Art", Kunstsammlung, Museum Bochum, Bochum (Germany).
  • 1980 – "Exhibition of Recent Acquisitions 1970–1980", The State Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow.
  • 1988 – "I Live — I See: The Moscow Art Scene of the Eighties", Kunstmuseum, Bern (Switzerland). "Russian Avant-Garde and Soviet Contemporary Art", Sotheby's, Sovincenter, Moscow. "Exhibition of Works of Art from the Sixteenth Century to the Twentieth Century, from the Garig Basmadjian Collection", The State Tretiakov Gallery, Moscow.
  • 1989 – "From the Revolution to Perestroika: Soviet Art from the Ludwig Collection", Kunstmuseum, Lucerne (Switzerland). "100 Artists from the Collection of Tatiana and Natasha Kolodzei", The State Museum of Fine Arts, Tashkent (Uzbekistan).
  • 1990-91 – "The Other Art. Moscow 1956–1976", The State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow; The State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg.
  • 1991 – "Soviet Contemporary Art. From Thaw to Perestroika", from the collection of the Tsaritsino National Museum, Setagaya Art Museum, Tokyo (Japan).
  • 1992 – "New Directions", from the George Riabov Collection of Russian Art, Rutgers University, Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, New Brunswick, NJ (USA). 
  • 1993 – "National Traditions and Postmodernism", The State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow.
  • 1994 – "The Nonconformists from Collections of the State Russian Museum and P. Nowicky", Krolikarnia, Warsaw (Poland).
  • 1995 – "From Gulag to Glasnost, Nonconformists Art from the Soviet Union", Permanent Installation of the Norton and Nancy Dodge Collection of Nonconformist Art from the Soviet Union, 1956–1986, Rutgers University, Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, New Brunswick, NJ (USA). "20th Anniversary of Bulldozer Exhibition", Gogolevskii bul'var 10, Moscow.
  • 1996 – "Aesthetic of Thaw", The Tsaritsino National Museum Collection of Contemporary Art, Kashirka Exhibition Hall, Moscow.
  • "Nonconformist: The Second Russian Avant-Garde 1955–1988. From the Collection of Bar-Gera", The State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg; The State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow; State Art Institute and State Gallery, Frankfurt on Main (Germany).
  • 1997 – "Celebrating the Still-Life", Mimi Ferzt Gallery, New York (USA). "The History in Faces, 1956–1996", The Tsaritsino National Museum Collection of Contemporary Art, Moscow. "Exhibition from Evgenii Nutovich Collection", The State Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Museum of Private Collections, Moscow.
  • 1998 – "Second Avant-Garde, Graphic Art", Dom Natachokina Gallery, Moscow. "Russian Still-Life", Tabakman Gallery, New York (USA).
  • 1998-99 – "Forbidden Art: The Postwar Russian Avant-Garde", Pasadena Art Center College of Design Alyce de Roulet Williamson Gallery, Pasadena, CA (USA); The State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg; The State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow; Miami University Art Museum, Oxford, Ohio (USA).
  • 1999 – "Exhibition of Recent Acquisitions", The State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg. "A Twenty-Five-Year Retrospective on Nonconformist Russian Art. Selections from the Kolodzei Collection", Kennan Institute for Advanced Russian Studies, Washington, D. C. (USA). Inauguration opening of permanent installation, Museum of Modern Art, Moscow.
  • 2000 – Museum "The Other Art", Inauguration opening of permanent installation of the Leonid Talochkin Collection, State Russian University for the Humanities, Museum Center, Moscow.
  • 2009 – "Alone in the Search for the Meaning of Life", Curator Igor Metelitsyn, Moscow Museum of Modern Art, Moscow.
  • 2011 – "Concerning the Spiritual Tradition in Russian Art", Selections from the Kolodzei Art Foundation, Chelsea Art Museum, New York, NY (USA).

PUBLIC COLLECTIONS

  • State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow
  • The State Pushkin Fine Arts Museum, Moscow
  • The Other Art Museum, Moscow, The State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg
  • The Museum of Contemporary Art Art4.ru, Moscow
  • The Simferopol Art Museum, Simferopol
  • The Provincial Museum in Torun (Muzeum Okręgowe w Toruniu), Torun (Poland)
  • The Kolodzei Art Foundation (USA)
  • Museum Ludwig, Cologne (Germany)
  • Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (USA)
  • Museum of Modern Art, New York (USA)
  • Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ; The George Riabov Collection of Russian Art, donated in memory of Basil and Emilia Riabov; Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ; The Norton and Nancy Dodge Collection of Nonconformist Art from the Soviet Union, New Brunswick (USA)
  • New York Public Library, New York (USA)