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		KOSOLAPOV Alexander

Biographical information: 1943 Born in Moscow
1950-61 Studied in Moscow Secondary Art School of V. Surikov Art Institute
1962-68 Studied, with a break due to military service, at the Sculpture Department of Stroganov Moscow Higher Art College Stroganov Moscow Higher Art College
1975 Emigrates to the US
Lives and works in New York, USA, and Moscow
Collections where works are held: Museum Of Modern Art, MOMA, New York.
The New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York.
New York Public Library, New York.
Kupferstift Kabinet, Berlin, Germany.
Albertina, Vienna, Austria.
Chase Manhattan Bank, New York.
National Jewish Museum, B`nay B`rith Klauthznik, Washington.
Russian Museum, St.-Peterburg, Russia.
Tretjakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia.
Museum of art, The Duke University, N.C.
Wihlhelm-Hack-Museum, Ludwigshafen, Germany.
The State-Zarizin Museum, Moscow, Russia.
Zimmerly Art Museum, Rutgers, New Jersey.
Art Museum University of South Florida, Tampa.
Moderna galerija Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Museum Moderner Kunst, Stiftung Worlen,Passau, Germany.
Participation in exhibitions and auctions: SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITION:
1974 Alexander Kosolapov. Artists` House at Kuznetsky Most Str., Moscow
1985 Alexander Kosolapov. Semaphore Gallery, New York, USA
1987 Alexander Kosolapov. Galerie Anna Friebe, Cologne, Germany
1988 Alexander Kosolapov. Galerie Inge Baecker, Cologne, Germany
1990 Alexander Kosolapov. Berman Gallery, New York, USA
1991 Alexander Kosolapov. Ruth Siegel Gallery, New York, USA
1991 Belkin, Chuikov, Kosolapov. Galerie Eva Poll, Berlin
1993 New Post-Communist Billboards oder Bilder aus dem Neuen Russland. Galerie Inge
1993 Baecker, Cologne, Germany
1994 Alexander Kosolapov. Galerie Vorsetzen, Hamburg, Germany
1997 Alexander Kosolapov. Galerie Karenina, Vienna
2000 Sots Art/Pop Art. Duke University Museum of Art , Durham, USA
2003 Mickey-Lenin. Gallery of One Work, Moscow

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS:
1978 New Art from the Soviet Union. Pratt Institute Gallery, Columbia; Montgomery Hall, St`Mary College, Maryland, USA
1981 Nouvelles Tendences de l`Art Russe Non-Officiel. 1970-1980. Centre Culturel de la Villedieu, Elancourt, France
1981 Russian New Wave. Contemporary Russian Art Center, New York, USA
1983 Come Yesterday and You`ll Be First. City Without Walls Gallery, New-Ark; Contemporary Russian Art Center of America, Jersey-City, USA
1984 Sots art. Semaphore Gallery, New York, USA
1986 Sots art. Everson Museum of Art, Сиракус; New museum of contemporary art, New York, USA; Glenbow Museum, Calgary, Canada
1987 A Retrospective of Creative Effort of Moscow Artists. 1957-1987. Hermitage Association, Exhibition Hall at 100 Profsoyuznaya Str., Moscow
1989-90 Transit: Russian Artists Between the East and West. Fine Arts Museum of Long Island, Hempstead, USA; Central Artists` House, Moscow; State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia
1989 D&D. Kunstverein, Hamburg, FRG
1989 Reagan: American Icon. Central Gallery, Bucknell University, Luisburg, USA
1989 Wirklichkeit als Konzept II. Galerie Inge Baecker, Cologne, Germany
1990 Art=Money? The Gallery, New York, USA
1990 Art et Publicite. Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; Du Sezon Museum, Tokyo 1990 Schizo-China: Hallucination at at the helm (exhibition at Avant-garde Artists` Club). VDNH Construction pavilion at Frunzenskaya Embankment, Moscow
1990 Absolut Glasnost. Magazine «Interview», June 1990, USA
1990-91 Another art. Moscow 1956-1976. State Tretiakov Gallery, Moscow; State Russian Museum, Leningrad
1991 Contemporary Soviet Art: From Thaw to Perestroyka. Setagaya Art Museum, Tokyo
1991 Kunst: Europa, Sovietunion. Kunstverein, Hanover, Germany
1991 In de USSR en Erbuiten. Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands
1991 Transpositions. Art Museum University of South Florida, Tampa, USA
1992 Ex USSR. Groninger Museum, Groninger, The Netherlands
1002 Soc-art. V. Lenin Museum, Moscow
1993 3rd Minos Beach Sculpture symposium. Greece
1993 Coca Art Show. Galleria Bianca Pilat, Milan, Italy
1994 Artist Instead of a Work of Art, or a Jump to the Void. Central Artists` House, Moscow
1994 Before «Neo» and After «Post». Lehman College Art Gallery, New York, USA
1994 II Cetinjski Bijenale. Cetinje, Montenegro
1995 Russian Jewish Artist in a Century of Change. Jewish Museum, New York, USA
1995 Temporarily Possessed. New Museum of contemporary art, New York, USA
1996 History in persons. 1956-1996. Central exhibition hall, Nizhny Novgorod; Regional Art Museum, Samara; Perm Municipal Picture Gallery, Perm; Novosibirsk Regional Picture Gallery, Novosibirsk; Yekaterinburg Museum of Fine Arts, Yekaterinburg
1998 Russlands Zweite Avantgarde. Museum Moderner Kunst, Passau, Germany
1998 Mouse: An American Icon. Alternative Museum, New York, USA
1998 It`sThe Real Thing. Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum, Minneapolis, USA
1999 Kunst im untergrund. Albertina museum, Vienna
1999 Drama Lenin-Stalin Tragodie. Galerie Hihenthal und Bergen, Berlin
2000-2002 ARTEAST 2000+. Moderna galerija Ljubljana, Liubliana; Orangerie Congress, Innsbruck, Austria; ZKM, Karlsruhe, Germany; Umetnička galerija Skopje, Skopje
2002 Russian Revolutions. Singer Gallery, Mizel Center for Arts and Culture, Denver, USA
2002 100% vision. Rigina Gallery, Moscow
2003 Berlin-Moskau/Moskau-Berlin 1950-2000. Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin
2003 Kunst und Politik. Galerie Inge Baecker, Cologne, Germany
2003 Remembrance. Yeshiva University Museum, New York, USA
2003 Attention, religion! A. Sakharov Museum and Public Center, Moscow
2004 Berlin-Moscow/Moscow-Berlin 1950-2000. State Historical Museum, Moscow
2004 Printed light - photographic vision and the modern print. National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
2004 Szene MOSKVA (1977-1991). Galerie Eva Poll, Berlin
2004 Seven Sins. Moderna galerija Ljubljana, Liubliana
2005 Russia! Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, USA
2005 Russia 2. Bad news from Russia. White Box Gallery, New York, USA
2005 Russian Pop Art. State Tretiakov Gallery, Moscow
2005 Katharina prospekt. Modemuseum, Antwerp, Belgium
2006 Branding. Centre PasquArt, Kunsthaus d`art, Biel/Bienne, Switzerland
2006 Unlearn. Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art, Winnipeg, Canada
2006 Artists Against The State: Perestroika Revisited. Ronald Feldman Gallery, New York, USA
2007 New Sculptures. Galerie Vallois Sculptures, Paris
2007 Soc-Art. State Tretiakov Gallery, Moscow; La Maison Rouge, Paris
2007 The Thaw. State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg
2007 Movement. Evolution. Art. Ekaterina Cultural Foundation, Moscow
2008 Die totale Aufklärung - Moskauer Konzeptkunst. Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt, Germany
Autobiographical notes
What the critics say: Alexander Kosolapov is one of the most remarkable `go-betweeners` of contemporary art, constantly shifting between countries, ideologies, cultures, and aesthetic languages. In 1973, he cofounded the Sots-Art movement, which is characterized by a cunning combination of Soviet communist and American capitalist iconographies. This conjunction rhymes with Kosolapov’s biography: in a nod towards symmetry, he lived 30 years in Moscow and then, in 1975, moved to New York, where he spent another 30 years. He experienced first-hand the influence of American Pop art, especially of Andy Warhol and of Hollywood, while maintaining his aesthetic affiliation with Sots-Art. Combining particulars from Russian political art with the aesthetics of American consumerism, he created such well-known images as the Lenin Coca Cola (1985), Malevich Marlborough, and Lenin McDonald’s. In his most recent works Kosolapov proposes new, nonexistent brands for Post-Soviet Russia which demonstrates that our time is ruled by ideologies and consumerism.
Bibliography: Alexander Kosolapov. Sots Art // Cornerhouse, 184 p., 2010

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