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		Dorokhov Mikhail

Biographical information: http://www.mdoro.com
1 27 July 1942: birth of Mikhail (Misha) Dorokhov in the hall of a house in Tverskay- Yamskay street, Moscow. The Second World War is raging, and the curfew starts at 8 pm.
2 At the age of 5, he finds himself in the Filatov children`s hospital, having mistaken bleach for drinking water. His father brings him a box of coloured pencils and a small drawing pad, on the cover of which there is a picture of Spartacus. Since then, Misha has been wedded to art.
3 While out playing, he discovers the children`s art school in Sadovay street, and winds up with a pencil in his hand, taking part in a drawing lesson. When he`s finished his picture, he gets a kiss from the director of the school. It`s the start of his artistic education. He takes first prize in a children`s art competition organized by the Indian government.
4 At the age of 13, unknown to his parents, he passes the Moscow intermediate art school`s exam, with a view to entering the Surikov institute (the USSR`s central art school), opposite the Tretyakov gallery, though the competition`s stiff: there are 20 applicants for every place, and children of famous Soviet artists take precedence. Other children are brought to the intermediate art school by their parents, their pockets stuffed with sandwiches and sharp pencils. Misha arrives on his own, without having said anything to his parents - swapping his former school for this one, far from home, would have caused them big financial problems.
5 In 1962, he graduates from the Moscow intermediate art school with a first-class degree, thus gaining admission to the Surikov institute, the crucible of Soviet art, without having to take the entrance exam.
6 His artistic and philosophical positions are in stark contrast to Soviet art and Communist ideology. He is interested in icons, Impressionism, Kandinsky and Constructivism. 1966-1999: research, experimentation, philosophy, abstract animation films, as author, producer, director, script writer and artist.
7 His pressing need to support himself and his family compels him to forego a place at the Surikov institute, and go for the Moscow Polygraph Institute`s qualification, which allows him to work as an artist, illustrator and designer, or to working freelance.
8 1977: Misha is elected a member of the Soviet Art Union, which among other things carries the privilege of being able to buy art materials that can`t be found in ordinary shops. It also means being allocated a subsidized studio, and getting to spend a month or 2 in an artist`s dacha, with a full catering service laid on. This gives him an opportunity to exchange ideas with other artists.
9 1988-1999: he lives and works in England. His preconception of England as an ideal society in which he can fulfill himself as an artist, and where art is loved, understood and easy to sell, turn out to be something of an illusion. Since then, he has been living and working in France`s Dordogne region, where he feels independent and free.
Collections where works are held: National Tretiakovskaya Gallery, Moscow.
National Museum of A.Akhmatova, St.Petersburg.
The ŤOther Artť museum of the Russian State University for Humanities is dedicated to the unofficial Russian art of 1950-1970. In 1976 the Ministry of Culture of the USSR registered the Leonid Talochrin`s collection as an"All-Union Cultural Monument came to be known as Ťnon-conformismť.
Participation in exhibitions and auctions: 2006 ART EXPO. Sourzac, Le Piqeonner. France. .
2004-2005 Modern Art Gallery, Brontom, France..
2003 Art Diffusion, Poitiers, France..
1996 Fine Art Center Edelman Gallery, New-York. USA.
1995 Modern Art Gallery, Saint-Antonio, USA.Rosenbaum Gallery, Houston, Texas, USA .
1994 Art Expo, Las Vegas. Group exhibition, Santa Dere, Spain.Group exhibition, Brutton Street Gallery, London, UK .
1993 Group exhibition, Brutton Street Gallery, London, UK .
1992 Group exhibition, Brutton Street Gallery, London, UK .
1990 One-man show at Camden Gallery, London, UK .
1990 Royl Academy of Art (Spring Exhibitions). London, UK
Autobiographical notes
What the critics say: Mikhail Dorokhov is very much an artist`s artist.The product of a long and specialised art training, he has a strong technique, coupled with the unruffled, logical thinking of the Russian"intelligent".He also has a contemplative,poetic side. For the Western public,what is encouraging about MIKHAIL DOROKHOV`S work is neither tawdry nor selfindulgent,but muted and controlled. On the face of it,DOROKHOV`S chronology proclaims a party-line artist. A former member of the USSR Union of Artist,in 1988 he took part in a prestigious national competition to illustrate the centenary edition of Anna Akhmatova`s collected poems.But to illustrate Anna Akhmatova faithfully,an artist,by definition,cannot be dogmatic,bigoted or meretricious.He must be anarchic, spiritual,and intensely Russian.Russian-ness has became a cliche in commercial circles.At its best,however,it is neither bogus nor obscurantst.It is often nostalgic, though;and DOROKHOV`S work is no exception. However,this artist has managed to transcend the fetters of nationality.He belongs to a new tradition of itinerant artists from Russia,independent and westernised,divorced,not without pain,from their homeland. DOROKHOV`S oils at BRUTTON STREET GALLERIES are,to an extent,a development from an earlier series,but with a wider application.His first London oil series was aabout the struggie for a new RUSSIA,attended by wholesale destruction of the old order,leaving only the gaping chasm of moral bankruptcy.IN these paintings,MIKHAIL DOROKHOV sought to give his fellow Russians,on the verge of spiritual collaps,hope,a way out of the grimy chaos of a demolition site into a world of light.He did it by juxtaposing ladders and Orthodox churches,thus adding a geometrical dimension to his compositions. His new series explores the emptiness the of the western world,symbolised by dressmakers`dummies in shop windows. Irresistibly drawn by their structural qualities,he creates semi-abstract compositions,at the same time exploring texture, through sensitive mastery of pastel and oil media. MIKHAIL DOROKHOV`S works exude a power and a mystery which proclaim an artist of universal significance. HAM. HIGH. LONDON. UK
Bibliography: 2001 Illustrative Dictionary of Russian Art Encyclopedia of Word ART, Moscow.
1997 Art in USA, Publishing, Saint-Antonio, USA.
1994 The Art Book94 (Pinkbarge) M.P.L. London UK.
1993 a Stranger to Heaven and Earth, Shambhala, Boston, USA.
1993 a Stranger to Heaven and Earth, Shambhala, London, UK.
1992 Gruppa Dvizhenie, V.Klechuk, Moscow, U.S.S.R.
1991 the Ladders of Mikhael Dorokhov, Sputnik Moscow U.S.S.R.
1990 Fragility of Aspiration Ham.High.London, UK.

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