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		NAKHOVA Irina

Biographical information: 1955 Born in Moscow
1972-1978 Studied at the Moscow Polygraphic Institute
1986 Joined the USSR Union of Artists
1992 Moved to the USA
Lives and works in New Jersey, USA, and Moscow
Collections where works are held
Participation in exhibitions and auctions: SOLO EXIBITIONS:

1989
Partial Triumph I. Vanessa Devereux Gallery, London, England

1990
Momentum Mortis. Phyllis Kind Gallery, New York, USA

1991
Partial Triumph II. Galeria Berini, Barcelona, Spain

1992
In Memoriam. Chicago International Art Exposition, Chicago, USA
Recent Works. Phyllis Kind Gallery, New York, USA

1993
Careful With Your Eyes. Gallery 60, Umea, Sweden

1995
Friends and Neighbors. Cranbrook Art Museum, Bloomfield Hills, USA
Food of the Gods. XL-Gallery, Moscow

1996
Papa Needs to Rest. Obscuri Viri Gallery, Moscow

1997
What I saw. XL-Gallery, Moscow
Power of Painting: Food Painting. Bunting Gallery, Royal Oak, USA

1998
Showroom: Installation with Big Red. Galerie Eboran, Salzburg, Austria
Honeybuns Performing Goethe`s Werther (together with Günter Unterburger). Galerie im Alcatraz, Hallein, Austria

1999
Big Red. XL-Gallery, Moscow
Archaeology of a Room. Obscuri Viri Gallery, Moscow

2000
Deposition. Rupertinum, Museum Moderner Kunst, Salzburg, Austria
Showroom: Installation with Big Red. Tallinna Linnagalerii, Tallinn

2001
Annunciation. XL-Gallery, Moscow

2002
Be with Me. XL-Gallery, Moscow

2003
When Will You Be Home? Wooster College Art Museum, Wooster, USA
Repetition. State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

2004
Degree of Elevated Risk. National Center for Contemporary Arts, Moscow
We. XL-Gallery, Moscow
Irina Nakhova. Galerie im Traklhaus, Salzburg, Austria

2005
Artificial Shrubs and Woman Sitting on the Bank. State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow
Probably Would 1. Nailya Alexander Gallery, New York, USA
Two New. Kresge Gallery, Ramapo College, Mahwah, USA

2006
Trip. XL-Gallery, Moscow
Moscow Installation. Karlsruhe Kunstlerhaus, Karlsruhe, Germany

2007
Disagreeable Matters - Disarming Icons. Windows at Kimmel Center, New York University, New York, USA

2008
Zone of Non-Distinction. XL-Gallery, Moscow

GROUP EXIBITIONS:

1982
What is Plastic Art? (one-day exhibition). Exhibition Hall of the Moscow Union of Artists on 11 Kuznetsky Most Street, Moscow

1988
Ich lebe - Ich sehe. Kunstmuseum, Bern, Switzerland
ÈñKUNSTâî I. Kunstlerwerkstatt im Bahnhof Westend, West Berlin
Second Exhibition of the Club of Avantgardists. Exhibition Room of the Proletarsky District in Peresvetov Lane, Moscow
Neuvostoliiton Nuorta Taidetta. Turun Taidemuseo, Turun, Finland
Geometry and Art. Exhibition Room of the Krasnogvardeisky District ("On Kashirka"), Moscow

1992
a Mosca... a Mosca... Villa Campoleto, Herculaneum; Galleria Comunale d`Arte Moderna, Bologna, Italy
A Changeable Feast: International Flavors. Walters Hall Gallery, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, USA
Master Prints. Gallery at Bristol Meyers Squibb, Princeton, USA; Phyllis Kind Gallery, Chicago, USA

1994
Fellowship Recipients. Mason Gross School of the Arts, Piscataway, USA
Natural Histories. Pyramid Atlantic, Riverdale, USA
Paper, Process, Art. Suffolk Community College, Selden, USA
Artist instead of Artwork or Leap into the Void. Central House of the Artist, Moscow
Dialogue with the Other. Kunsthallen Brandts Klaedefabrik, Odense, Denmark; Norrkoping Konst Museum, Norrkoping, Sweden
II Cetinjski Bijenale. Cetinje, Montenegro
Before «Neo» and After «Post». Lehman College Art Gallery, New York, USA
Impressions of Lakeside. Bunting Gallery, Royal Oak, USA
Monumental Propaganda. Smithsonian International Gallery, Ripley Center, Washington, USA

1998
Modernism and Post-Modernism: Russian Art of the Ending Millennium. Yager Museum, Hartwick College, Oneonta, USA
Self-Portrait. Dieu Donne Papermill Inc., New York, USA

2002
Art in the Feminine. State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow
Aquaria. Oberosterreichisches Landesmuseum, Linz, Austria; Kunstammlungen Chemnitz, Chemnitz, Germany
mind/body. The Gallery at Bristol-Myers Squibb, Princeton, USA

2003
Lulea Sommar Biennial. Lulea, Sweden
Berlin-Moskau/Moskau-Berlin 1950-2000. Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin
III International Biennale of Contemporary Drawing. State Picture Gallery, Novosibirsk
Tests of Time: Five Reflections. Jewish Community Center in Manhattan, New York, USA
Contemporary Art Celebrating Life. Allegheny Cemetery, Pittsburgh, USA

2004
Beyond Memory. Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, USA
Body, Culture, and Optical Illusions. Museum Center of the Russian State Humanities University, Moscow
Berlin-Moscow/Moscow-Berlin 1950-2000. State Historical Museum, Moscow

2005
Reflection. National Center for Contemporary Arts, Moscow; National Center for Contemporary Arts, Nizhny Novgorod; Yekaterinburg Contemporary Art Gallery, Yekaterinburg
Gender Worries. Moscow Museum of Modern Art, Moscow
Accomplices. State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow
Egalitarianism. Museum Center of the Russian State Humanities University, Moscow
Apartment Exhibitions: Then and Now. National Center for Contemporary Arts, Moscow
Allusive Form: Painting as Idea. Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, USA

2006
Territories of Terror: Mythologies and Memories of the Gulag in Contemporary Russian-American Art. Boston University Art Gallery, Boston, USA
Artists Against the State: Perestroika Revisited. Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, New York, USA
Collage in Russia. State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg
Homo Grandis Natu: Age. Museum Center of the Russian State Humanities University, Moscow

2007
History of Russian Video Art, Volume 1. Moscow Museum for Modern Art, Moscow
I Believe. Center for Contemporary Art Winzavod, Moscow
Katoptron (Direction of Sight of the Mirror). Museum Center of the Russian State Humanities University, Moscow
Nostalgia. Neal Davis Gallery, Royal Oak, USA
Apocalypse: Contemporary Visions. Candice Dwan/Nailya Alexander Gallery, New York, USA

2008
+7(495)... National Center for Contemporary Arts, Moscow
Autobiographical notes: Anne Swartz: How does painting fit into your art today?
Irina Nakhova: Painting is a luxury. It is when I am gaining time rather than spending time on projects. In order to paint, I need to have my head completely clear of everything and to be 1000% out of life as it exists in order to switch to a painting mode where time is not just standing still, but where I am able to gain time for the future. That is why real painting is not only a rarity, but the most precious time, especially for me as I am very busy with many things to accomplish. I am constantly painting in my mind, but luxury begins when I can isolate myself and get into this other circumstance with a different understanding of time. It must be free of any concern other than painting. Maybe what I am saying would be perceived by a reader to be a very conservative approach, but, for a viewer, it may give an idea of concentration and effort.
AS: How do you characterize your public?
IN: Ideally, my public needs to be well-educated and open, but not necessarily because I aim for my work to be understood on many levels, both visually and conceptually. So, the educated public will perhaps get more of the connotations and references, but also, ideally, art should be as direct as a well-landed punch that can strike anyone.
AS: What are the vital issues in your art?
IN: One of my largest goals is to create spaces for different experiences: physical and intellectual that do not exist otherwise as spaces. I want to stir and provoke independent thinking and new feelings.
AS: What are you doing now in your work?
IN: I am focusing on the vital issues in my work [as I just described]. Right now, thematically, I am concerned with issues of aging and how, intellectually and physically, capacities in some ways diminish, but could be replaced with different types of understandings towards the world. These issues are about choices, of older people and of old aging societies and therefore are intrinsic to art in general: what is kept, what is thrown away and what becomes pollution in both the individual’s life and in the physical and cultural larger world. Making art is about constantly making choices.
AS: What interests you today in the art world?
IN: I am desperately looking for non-entertaining art forms from other artists. It is not only difficult to find in visual art, but other types as well, such as music, film and literature. I am interested in art that gives experiences, that is powerful and eye-opening and that has significance. Significance in a way that gives insight to both individual and social life, as I still believe that art is power. It seems to be more and more difficult to find these qualities in contemporary art than in art of the past, whether it is art from the recent past, or centuries ago.
What the critics say: Artist Irina Nakhova exists in the liminal space between places and identities. She is a Russian artist now living primarily in America who still spends extended periods in Europe and Russia. She was raised under the Soviet system, a member of the close-knit avant-garde there who experienced the freedom that followed Perestroika. She is an active artist, consistently pursuing changing approaches to her art in search of an intellectually stimulating, visually challenging image and form in her work. Her work is conceptually rich and visually involving. Yet, her work has not been widely collected outside of Europe, so most of the New York art world still has to discover her intense, penetrating and engaging art.
Fortunately, a friend showed me a 2004 exhibition catalogue of her work and I was immediately transfixed. She has combined painting with installation in truly inventive ways since the early 70s. Her work remains fresh in its intellectual musing about identity, particularly gender, and is often responsive to the presence of the viewer. Yet, her personal history; growing up in Russia at a time when life was entirely controlled by the state, and her connections with the unofficial artists group in Moscow during the 1970s and 1980s now known as the Moscow Conceptual School, reverberates throughout her art. As such, her work was recently included in an exhibition at the Ronald Feldman Gallery, “Artists Against the State: Perestroika Revisited.” She regularly exhibits in New York and throughout Europe. I asked her several questions about her current work.
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