About the artist:

Grisha Bruskin (1945- ) is a Russian-American artist deeply engaged with the mythologies of Judaism and Communism. During the 1970s and 80s, he was an underground artist in the former Soviet Union. Despite prohibitions against Jewish study and without a formal religious education, Bruskin learned Hebrew, Talmud, and Kabbalah as a means of psychic escape. He immigrated to the United States in 1988 and currently lives in New York City. In the Alefbet (1984) and Alefbet-Lexicon (1987) painting series, Bruskin uses a Hasidic text as background. Uniform figures wearing religious dress (prayer shawls, yarmulkes, tfillin) indicate holiness and faith in God. Each figure possesses an accessory or attribute such as a pair of wings, a lightning bolt, a cluster of grapes, etc.. All of the types make up a collection of mythic characters or symbols. Bruskin intended that the work be used for prolonged meditation and study. Moved to New York, New York The artist currently lives and works in New York, New York. 1945Born on October 21st in Moscow, Russia Biennials 20072nd Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art, Sots-Art, Moscow, Russia 20051st Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art, Moscow, Russia (exhibition catalogue) 1993Drawing the Line Against Aids, Venice, Italy traveled to Guggenheim Museum Soho, New York, New York (exhibition catalogue) 1993Fujisankei Biennale, Hakone, Japan (exhibition catalogue) Solo Exhibitions 2009 Grisha Bruskin, Twilight of the Gods, Marlborough Gallery, New York, New York, United States. 2006 Grisha Bruskin, Alefbet, Tapestry Project, State Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow, Russia. 2006 Grisha Bruskin, Archeologist’s Collection, Galerie Patrice Trigano, Paris, France. 2006 - 2007 Grisha Bruskin, Metamorphosis and Mysticism, Meyerovich Gallery, San Francisco, California, United States. 2005 Grisha Bruskin, Archeologist’s Collection, Marlborough Monaco, Monte Carlo, Monaco. (exhibition catalogue) 2004 Grisha Bruskin: Modern Archaeology, Marlborough Gallery, New York, New York, United States. (exhibition catalogue) 2003 Grisha Bruskin, The Archeologist’s Collection, Judengasse Museum, Frankfurt am Main, Germany. (exhibition catalogue) 2002 Das Alphabet des Grisha Bruskin, Kunsthalle, Emden, Germany. (exhibition catalogue) 2001 Grisha Bruskin, Life is Everywhere, State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia. traveled to the State Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow, Russia (exhibition catalogue) 2001 Paradise Lost, Marlborough Chelsea, New York, New York, United States. (exhibition catalogue) 2000 Grisha Bruskin, Marlborough Gallery, Boca Raton, Florida, United States. 1999 Grisha Bruskin, Leben über Alles, Galerie Andy Jllien, Zürich, Switzerland. 1999 Grisha Bruskin: Life is Everywhere, Marlborough Gallery, New York, New York, United States. (exhibition catalog) 1997 Grisha Buskin, Birth of the Hero, Galerie Andy Jllien, Zürich, Switzerland. 1996 Grisha Bruskin: Mythical Imagery, Erica Meyerovich Gallery, San Francisco, California, United States. 1996 Grisha Bruskin: Revisions, Marlborough Gallery, New York, New York, United States. 1995 Grisha Bruskin, Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Buenos Aires, Argentina. (exhibition catalogue) 1994 Grisha Bruskin: Metamorphoses, Erica Meyerovich Gallery, San Francisco, California, United States. 1994 Grisha Bruskin: ‘General Instruction’ and Other Works, Marlborough Gallery, New York, New York, United States. (exhibition catalogue) 1993 Grisha Bruskin, General Instruction/Lev Rubinstein, Another Name, The State Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow, Russia. traveled to the State Russian Museum, Saint Petersburg, Russia (exhibition catalogue) 1993 Grisha Bruskin: Painting, Drawing and Sculpture, Struve Gallery, Chicago, Illinois, United States. 1993 Grisha Bruskin: Painting, Sculpture, Prints, Linda Farris Gallery, Seattle, Washington, United States. 1992 Grisha Bruskin, Alex Lachmann Gallery, Cologne, Germany. 1991 Grisha Bruskin: A Personal Mythology, Erika Meyerovich Gallery, San Francisco, California, United States. 1991 Grisha Bruskin: Paintings and Sculpture, Hokin Gallery, Palm Beach, Florida, United States. 1990 Marlborough Gallery, New York, New York, United States. 1984 Grisha Bruskin, Central House of Workers in the Arts, Moscow, Russia. 1983 Grisha Bruskin, Vilnius, Lithuania. 1976 House of Artists, Moscow, Russia. Group Exhibitions 2010Look Again, Marlborough Chelsea, New York, New York, United States. 20091989-2009. Mur de Berlin. Artistes pour la liberte, Jardins du Palais-Royal, Paris, France. 2009New Work, Old Story: 80 Artists at the Passover Table, The Contemporary Jewish Museum, San Francisco, California, United States. 2009Sculpture, Marlborough Gallery, New York, New York, United States. 2009Summer Exhibition, Marlborough Gallery, New York, New York, United States. 2009The Claude and Nina Gruen Collection of Contemporary Russian Art, Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, New Brunswick, New Jersey, United States. 2008Fragil Persuasion: Russian Porcelain and the Fine Art of Propaganda, Hillwood Estate Museum & Gardens, Washington, D.C., United States. 2008Group Show, Marlborough Monaco, Monte-Carlo, Monaco. 2008Nonconformists, The Second Russian Avant-garde 1955-1988. The Bar-Gera Collection, The Slovak National Gallery, Bratislava, Slovenia. 2008Summer Show, Marlborough Gallery, New York, New York, United States. 2008Total Enlightenment.Conceptual Art in Moscow 1960-1990, Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt, Germany. Fundacion Juan March. Madrid, Spain 2007Fifty-fifty. Paintings and Drawings from the Collection of M. Alshiby and M. Kurtez, State Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow, Russia. 2007 - 2008Painting and Sculpture, Marlborough Gallery, New York, New York, United States. 2007Sots-Art. Art politique en Russie de 1972 a Aujourd’hui, Maison Rouge, Paris, France. 2007Summer Exhibition, Marlborough Gallery, New York, New York, United States. 2006Sculpture, Marlborough Gallery, New York, New York, United States. 2006Summer Group Show, Marlborough Gallery, New York, New York, United States. 2006Territories of Terror. Mythologies and Memories of Gulag in Contemporary Russian-American Art, Boston University Art Gallery, Boston, Massachusetts, United States. 2006Time of Change. Art of 1960-1985 in the Soviet Union, The State Russian Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, Russia. 2005Avantgarde im Untergrund: Russische Nonkonformisten aus der Sammlung Bar-Gera, Kunstmuseum Bern, Bern, Switzerland. (exhibition catalogue) 2005RUSSIA! Nine Years of Masterpieces and Master Collections, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, New York , United States. (exhibition catalogue) 2005Sculptures Monumentales à Saint-Tropez, La Citadelle, Saint-Tropez, France. (exhibition catalogue) 2003Das Recht des Bildes, Judische Perspektiven in der modernen Kunst, Museum Bochum, Bochum, Germany. (exhibition catalogue) 2003La Fete, Le Bellevue, Biarritz, France. Museo Valenciano de la Illustracion y la Modernidad, 2003Persecuted Art & Artists Under Totalitarian Regimes in Europe During the 20th Century, Art Museum Ashdod, Ashdod, Israel. (exhibition catalogue) 2003Remembrance: Russian Post-Modern Nostalgia, Yeshiva University Museum, Center for , New York, New York, United States. traveled to Allan Priebe Gallery, University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh, Wisconsin (2004); Grossman Art Gallery, Lafayette College, Easton, PA (2005) (exhibition catalogue) 2002500 Years of Russian Art, Museum of Art, San Paolo, Italy. (exhibition catalogue) 2002La Parade des Animaux, Festival International de Sculpture de Monte-Carlo, Monte-Carlo, Monaco. 2002Russian Revolutions: Generations of Russian Jewish Avant-Garde Artists, Singer Gallery, Mizel Center for Arts and Culture, Denver, Colorado. (exhibition catalogue) 2002Sculpture by Abakanowicz, Arman, Botero, Bruskin Chadwick and others, Marlborough Gallery, New York, New York, United States. 2002The Image of Evil in Art, Flora Lamson Hewlett Library, Graduate Theological Union, Berkley, California, United States. 2001 - 2002Das rote Huse, leitgenossische russische Kunst aus der Sammlung Bierfreund, Stadtische Galerie Bietigheim-Bissingen, Stadtische Galerie Villa landers Bergisch Gladbach, Munich, Germany. 2001Dumbo Double Deuce; New York & Russian Artists, Russian American Cultural Center, Brooklyn, New York, United States. 2000American and Russian Nonconformist Art, Marjorie Barrick Museum, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. 2000Art of the 20th Century, the new permanent exposition of contemporary Russian art, StateTretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia. 2000Dumbo Double Deuce: New York and Russian Artists, Russian American Cultural Center, Brooklyn, New York, United States. 2000Eden Lion Utopia: Lur Geschichte der lukunft im Judentum, Herausgegeben von Werner , Vienna, Austria. (exhibition catalogue) 2000L’arte vietata in U.R.S.S. 1955-1988, Non-conformisti dalla Collezione BarGera, Galleria d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Palazzo Forti, Verona, Italy. (exhibition catalogue) 2000Nilder und Fotodokumente aus der Sammlung, Bar-Gera Markisches Museum der Stadt , Witten, Germany. (exhibition catalogue) 2000Nonconformisten 1955-1988, Die Zweite Russische Avantgarde, Chronik, Germany. 2000Realizing Future, Jewish Museum, New York, New York, United States. 2000 - 2001Sammlung Hans & Uschi Welle, Kupferstichkabinett, Berlin, Germany. 2000The new wing for Norton and Nancy Dodge collection of nonconformist art from the , Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum , New Brunswick, New Jersey, United States. 199920th Century Sculpture, Nassau County Museum of Art, Roslyn Harbor, New York, United States. (exhibition catalogue) 1999Art Projects in the Converted Reichstag, Reichstag, Berlin, Germany. 1999Kniga khudozhnika (Artist’s book) 1970-1990, From the collection of the State Pushkin , State Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Department of Private , Moscow, Russia. 1998Forbidden Art - The Postwar Russian Avant-Garde, ArtCenter, College of Design, Alyce, Pasadena, California, United States. traveled through 1999 to State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia; The State Tretiakov Gallery, Moscow,Russia; Miami University Art Museum, Oxford, Ohio (exhibition catalogue) 1998It’s the Real Thing - Soviet and Post-Soviet Sots Art and American Pop Art, Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota Art Museum, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. (exhibition catalogue) 19971997, The Nancy and Norton Dodge Collection at the Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers, New Jersey, United States. traveled to Caixa Geral de Depositos, Lisbon, Portugal (exhibiton catalogue and poster) 1997Contemporary Artists Welcome the New Year - The Jewish Museum List Graphic Commission , The Jewish Museum, New York, New York , United States. 1997Nonconformist Art From the Soviet Union, Palace of the Arts, Budapest, Hungary. 1996Department of New Currents: The First Five Years, The State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia. 1996Nonconformisten. Die zweite Russische Avantgarde 1955-1988, Sammlung Bar-Gera, Staatliches Russisches Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia. traveled to Staatliche Tretyakov Gallerie, Moscow, Russia; Städelches Kunstinstitut und Städtische Galerie, Frankfurt am Main, Germany; Exhibition Hall of Baier Department of Culture, Leverkusen, Germany; Museum of Josef Albers, Square-Bottrop, Germany. (exhibition catalogue) 1996On Paper, Marlborough Gallery, New York, New York, United States. (exhibition catalogue) 1995From Gulag to Glasnost: Nonconformist Art from the Soviet Union 1956-1988, The Nancy and Norton Dodge Collection at the Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers, New Jersey, United States. 1995Moscow: The Group, Heidi Neuhoff Gallery, New York, New York, United States. (exhibition catalogue) 1995Reinventing the Emblem, Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Connecticut, United States. (exhibition catalogue) 1995Russian Jewish Artists in a Century of Change 1890-1990, The Jewish Museum, New York, New York , United States. (exhibition catalogue) 1995Sculpture in the Little Forest, Ministry of Education and Culture, Raanana, Israel. 1994Itinere, Centro Galego de Arte Contemporanea, Santiago de Compostela, Spain. (exhibition catalogue) 1993A la découverte… des collections romandes 1, FAE Musée d’Art Contemporain, Pully/Lausanne, Switzerland. (exhibition catalogue) 1993Europa-Europa: Das Jahrundert der Avantgarde in Mittel- und Osteuropa, Kunst- und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Bonn, Germany. 1993Post-Modernism and Tradition, State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia. 1993Von Malewitsch bis Kabakov: Russische Avantgarde im 20 Jahrhundert, EineAusstellung des Museums Ludwig, Josef-Haubrich-Kunsthalle, Cologne, Germany. (exhibition catalogue) 1992On Paper, Marlborough Gallery, New York, New York, United States. (exhibition catalogue) 1991Artistas Rusos Contemporaneos, Auditorio de Galicia, Santiago de Compostela, Spain. (exhibition catalogue) 1990Chagall to Kitaj: The Jewish Experience in 20th Century Art, Barbican Art Gallery, London, England. (exhibition catalogue) 1990Marlborough en Pelaires, Centre Cultural Contemporani, Palma de Mallorca, Spain. 1989100 Years of Russian Art 1889-1989: From Private Collections in the USSR, Barbican Art Gallery, London, England. traveled through the United Kingdom and Russia 1989Artists for Liberty, Berlin Wall, Foundation Pascal Jeandet, Berlin, Germany. traveled to Paris, France; London, England; and Madrid, Spain 1989 - 1992Bilder für den Himmel - Kunstdrachen, Haus der Kunst, Munich, Germany. traveled to Grande Halle de la Villette, Paris, France; Kunstsammlung Nordhein- Westfalen, Düsseldorf, Germany; Central House of Artists, Moscow, Russia; Deichtor Halle, Hamburg, Germany; Museu Calouste Gulbenkian, Lisbon, Portugal; Musée des Beaux Arts, Brussels, Belgium; National Gallery, Berlin, Germany; Charlottenburg, Copenhagen, Denmark (exhibition catalogue) 1989Recent Acquisitions, Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel. 1989Recent Acquisitions, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, New York, United States. 1989Sculpture by Abakanowicz, Botero, Bruskin, Davies, Grooms, Mason, Marlborough Gallery, New York, New York, United States. 1989Von der Revolution zür Perestroika: Sowjetische Kunst aus der Sammlung Ludwig, Kunstmuseum Luzern, Lucerne, Switzerland. traveled to Palau de la Virreina -Ajuntament de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain; Musée d’Art Moderne de Saint Etienne, St.Etienne, France (exhibition catalogue) 1988Glasnost - Die neue Freiheit der sowjetischen Maler, Kunsthalle Emden, Emden, Germany. (exhibition catalogue) 1988Ich lebe - Ich sehe: Künstler der achtziger Jahre in Moskau, Kunstmuseum Bern, Bern, Switzerland. (exhibition catalogue) 1988Kunstdrachen: Bilder für den Himmel, Art Museum of the Miyagi Prefecture, Sendai, Japan. traveled through Japan and Europe from 1988–1992 (exhibition catalogue) 1988Olympiad of Art, National Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul, South Korea . (exhibition catalogue and poster) 1988Sowjetkunst heute, Museum Ludwig, Cologne, Germany. (exhibition catalogue) 1987Object, Malaya Gruzinskaya, Moscow, Russia. (exhibition catalogue) 1987Retrospection 1957-87, Exhibition Hall of the Provsouznaya Hermitage Association, Moscow, Russia. 1987The Painter and Modernism, Exhibition Hall Kashirka, Millionschikov Street, Moscow, Russia. 1966Seventh Exhibition of Young Artists of Moscow, House of Artists, Moscow, Russia. Public Collections Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, Arkansas, United States Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, United States Galeria de Arte Nacional, Caracas, Venezuela Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, United States Jewish Museum, New York, New York, United States Kunsthalle Emden, Emden, West Germany Kupferstichkabinett Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, Milwaukee, United States Museum Ludwig, Cologne, Germany Portland Museum of Art, Portland, Maine, United States Reichstag, Berlin, Germany State Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow, Russia State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia State Tretyakoff Gallery, Moscow, Russia Sydney Besthoff Sculpture Garden, New Orleans Museum, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States The Achenbach Foundation for Graphic Arts, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, San Francisco, California, United States Public Commissions 1999 Leben Uber Alles, tryptich, Reichstag, Berlin, Germany 1995 Visage, sculpture, City of Raanana, Raanana, Israel Books and Articles by the Artist 2008 Bruskin, Grisha. Past Imperfect. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press. 2007 Bruskin, Grisha. Pryamye I kosvennye dopolnenya. Moscow: Novoe Literaturnoe Obozrenie. 2006 Bruskin, Grisha, Boris Groys and Yevgeny Barabanov. Alefbet:Tapestry Project. Moscow: Palace Editions. 2005 Bruskin, Grisha. Letter follows. Moscow: Novoe Literaturnoye Obozrenie. 2003 Bruskin, Grisha. M'yslenno vami. Moscow: Novoye Literaturnoye Obozrenie. 2001 Bruskin, Grisha. Proshedshee Vremya Nesovershennogo Vida (Past Imperfect). Moscow: Novoye Literaturnoye Obozrenie. 2001 Bruskin, Grisha, Eleanor Heartney, Hans-Peter Riese, Yevgeny Barabanov, and Alexander Borovsky. Life Is Everywhere. Moscow: Palace Editions. Monograph 1995 Bruskin, Grisha. Moscu en Nueva York: Sueños Heroicos. Interviews 2004Studio 360 "Soviet Nostalgia. [radio interview]." WNYC, February 07, 2004 Television 1993Jana Markova, "Grisha Bruskin in New York," Art Series, German TV, Bonn, Germany 1992N. Zaretskaya, "Grisha Bruskin," Art Series, TV Galereya, Moscow, Russia Performances in Film 1988Grisha Bruskin: The Birth of the Hero, Exhibition Hall at Milliontshikov Street Kashirka, in collaboration with X, music by X, edited by X, film by Exhibition Hall at Milliontshikov Street Kashirka Films 2007Alphabetic Truths, Grisha Bruskin, in collaboration with Vladimir Tarasov, Serge Scanavi and Joelle Leandre, music by X, edited by X, film by Grisha Bruskin 2003Good-buy USSR, Grisha Bruskin, in collaboration with Vladimir Tarasov, Lev Rubenstien, Dimitri Prigov and Irina Prokhorova, music by X, edited by X, film by Grisha Bruskin 2002Grisha Bruskin, N. Zaretskaya, in collaboration with TV Moscow, music by X, edited by X, film by N. Zaretskaya 2001Alphabetic Truths, State Russian Museum, Marble Place, in collaboration with Vladimir Tarasov and Dimitri Prigov, music by X, edited by X, film by State Russian Museum, Marble Place 1997Azbuka or An Island is a Piece of Land Surrounded by Water, Grisha Bruskin, in collaboration with Vladimir Tarasov, music by X, edited by X, film by Grisha Bruskin 1995Grisha Bruskin en Buenos Aires, Hugo Mendonga, in collaboration with GALA/Herminia Denoto, music by X, edited by X, film by Hugo Mendonga