Evgeny Ukhnalev

Born in 1931 in Leningrad, Evgeniy attended the Repin Institute for Painting, Sculpture and Architecture’s Secondary Art School. Convicted and sentenced to 25 years on a false denunciation in 1948, he served the sentence in prisons and prison camps. Upon returning to Leningrad in 1954, Ukhnalyov worked at various design offices – first as draughtsman, later as architect – and headed the Architectural Department of the State Hermitage Museum. Ukhnalyov designed the current national emblem of the Russian Federation, presidential regalia, as well as the state orders, decorations, and medals. He also co-created the Solovki Stone, monument to the victims of political repression in the Soviet Union, on Troitskaya Square in St. Petersburg. The artist passed away in September 2015.

Evgeniy Ukhnalyov’s oeuvre stands out due to the artist’s propensity for tapping into the hidden life of things. Each of his artworks is a self-contained mysterious universe, often featuring recurring images of windows, doors, and arches and seemingly prompting the viewers to glimpse into the artist’s enigmatic worlds.