Grisha Bruskin

The Directors of Marlborough Gallery are pleased to announce an innovative exhibition of new work by the, renowned Russian artist, Grisha Bruskin. As a part of the Soviet art underground in the 1970s and 1980s,, Bruskin consistently challenged the political and social standards of Communist society. He emerged from this, charged milieu into the international arena in 1988 and subsequently immigrated to New York, joining, Marlborough Gallery in 1989. The exhibition entitled Modern Archeology will be Bruskin’s sixth show at, Marlborough.,

One of the highlights of the show will be an installation entitled Archeologist’s Collection, a multipart configuration, of small (6 inches to 36 inches) bronze elements that form an almost museological display of what seem to, be artifacts from the lost civilization of the Soviet Union in the twentieth century. Each bronze - ranging from, the fragmented body of a Soviet soldier to the shattered remains of a doctor to the figure of a broken but recognizable, German Shepard - is covered in matte white paint. Like rediscovered artifacts from the ruins of, Pompeii, these objects become ghostly relics of a lost culture, place and time. They also recall the ubiquitous use, of plaster statuary in the USSR where visual reminders of the state’s power could be found in every town square., A second major body of work included in the exhibition will be On The Edge, which comprises eighteen bronze, sculptures measuring from 10 inches to over 58 inches high. These fascinating sculptures depict figures as they, balance or step off columns, some shattering to pieces on the ground. Metaphorically grounded “on the edge”, of waking and sleeping, consciousness and non-consciousness, death and rebirth, the works’ stylized handsomeness, conjures associations with romanticism, kitsch and Socialist Realism. Five paintings, all oil on linen, further, explore these themes.,

Bruskin is widely recognized for an oeuvre that deeply engages philosophy, history and religion. Previous series, of works include paintings related to the esoteric literature of Jewish mysticism, the Kabbalah, and to the grammar, school alphabet primer of Russian school children, Azbuka. In 1999, Bruskin was selected to represent, Russia with a permanent installation at the redesigned Reichstag, home to the German parliament, in Berlin., In the past three years, the artist has had successful solo exhibitions at the following museums: State Pushkin, Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow and State Russian Museum, Saint Petersburg; Kunsthalle, Emden and, Judengasse Museum, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.,

Bruskin was born in 1945 in Moscow. He graduated from the Art Department at the Moscow Textile Institute, in 1968. The following year, he became a member of the Soviet Artist's Union, and had three exhibitions all of, which were prematurely closed by Soviet authorities. A vital opportunity presented itself to Bruskin when his, innovative figural painting, Fundamental Lexicon, was sold at Sotheby's Russian Avant-Garde and Soviet, Contemporary Art auction in Moscow in 1988. Defecting the following year, Bruskin began his career in New, York. Since then, his work has been exhibited widely throughout the world.,

The artist's work is included in numerous public collections including the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago,, Illinois; Museo Galeria de Arte, Caracas, Venezuela; Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel; Jewish Museum, New, York, New York; Kunsthalle Emden, Emden, Germany; Museum Ludwig, Cologne, Germany; The Museum of, Modern Art, New York, New York; Portland Museum of Art, Portland, Maine; State Pushkin Museum of Fine, Arts, Moscow, Russia; State Russian Museum, Saint Petersburg; Russia and State Tretyakoff Gallery, Moscow, Russia.

Grisha Bruskin
Modern Archeology