Installation, Sculpture, Photography, Painting
Komar and Melamid is an tandem team of Russian conceptualist artists Vitaly Komar, born in 1943 and Alexander Melamid, born in 1945. They attended and graduated from the Stroganov School of Art and Design in 1967. Both artists were born in Moscow, but emigrated to Israel in 1977 and subsequently to New York in 1978.
In an artists’ statement they said that “even if only one of us creates some of the projects and works, we usually sign them together. We are not just an artist, we are a movement.”
Their first joint show, Retrospectivism, appeared in the Blue Bird Cafe, Moscow, in 1967.
During the late 60’s and early 70’s, Komar and Melamid found the movement that they called Sots Art, a unique version of Soviet Pop and Conceptual Art, which combines the principles of Dadaism and Socialist Realism. During these years, they also worked on Post-Art, pioneering multi-stylistical images prescient of post-modernism, which would become popular in the 80’s. They collaborated on various conceptual projects, ranging from painting and performance to installation, public sculpture, photography, music, and poetry. They also collaborated with other artists, for example, Douglas Davis, Fluxus member Charlotte Moorman, Andy Warhol, among others.
In 1973, they were expelled from the Youth section of the Soviet Artist Union. In 1974, duo was arrested during a performance in a Moscow apartment show and later their works, along with the works of other nonconformist artists, were destroyed by Soviet authorities at the open-door “Bulldozer Show.” In 1978, they moved to New York. Their first show in the West was at the Feldman Gallery, NY, in 1976, and first individual museum show was at the Hartford Athenaeum, Harford, USA, in 1978.
In the 80’s, they continued developing their Sots Art in works such as Nostalgic Socialist Realism Series, May 1st Installation at the Palladium Disco, and also Post-Art in works such as Diary Series, Anarchistic Synthesis Series, Bayonne, N.J. Series. They were the first Russian artists to receive funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, and also the first Russian artists to be invited to the Documenta 8, in Kassel, Germany, in 1987.
They devoted their projects in the 90’s to iconoclasm, democracy and elitism by statistics and ecology. Komar and Melamid’s most recent projects are devoted to art as a religion and to the synthesis of irony and spirituality.
They can be found in Oxford’s Dictionary of 20th Century Art, The Penguin Concise Dictionary of Art History, Art Since the 40’s, Bildende Kunst im 20 Jahrhundert, and Phaidon’s The 20th–Century Art Book.
Their works are included in the collections of Guggenheim Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, and Museum of Modern Art in New York, Victoria and Albert Museum in London, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Albertina, Vienna, Museum Ludwig, Cologne, and San Francisco Museum of Art.
In 2004 the creative union of Komar and Melamid disbanded.
Year | Exhibition Title | Gallery/Museum | Solo/Group | |
---|---|---|---|---|
2015 | Grammar Of Freedom - Five Lessons: Works From Arteast 2000+ Collection | Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, Moscow | Group | |
2014 | Russian Performance: A Cartography Of Its History | Garage Museum of Contemporary Art,Moscow | Group | |
2014 | In __ We Trust: Art and Money | Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, OH | Group | |
2014 | Russian Contemporary Art | Havremagasinet Art Center, Boden | Group | |
2014 | Labor Intensive | Ronald Feldman Fine Arts Inc, New York City, NY | Group | |
2013 | Art Turning Left: How Values Changed Making 1789–2013 | Tate Liverpool, Liverpool | Group | |
2013 | Beyond Human: Artist–Animal Collaborations | Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA | Group | |
2013 | A Spectator on the Stands of History | (ART) AMALGAMATED, New York City, NY | Group | |
2013 | Sounding the Body Electric | Calvert22, London | Group | |
2012 | Decoration Of The Beautiful. Elitism And Kitsch In Contemporary Art | The State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow | Group | |
2012 | Sounding the Body Electric. Experiments in Art and Music in Eastern Europe 1957-1984 | Muzeum Sztuki Lodz, Lodz | Group | |
2012 | You Call This Art | Florida Gulf Coast University Art Gallery, Fort Myers, FL | Group | |
2011 | Artisartisart | Moscow museum of modern art - MMOMA, Moscow | Group | |
2011 | Pop Patriotism 2002 | Carriage Trade, New York City, NY | Group | |
2011 | Points of View: Selections from Seven Colorado Collections | CU Art Museum, Boulder, CO | Group | |
2011 | Identity and Community in the Contemporary World: An Installation for KU’s National Resource Centers | Spencer Museum of Art, Lawrence, KS | Group | |
2011 | Museo de las narrativas paralelas. En el marco de La Internacional | Museu d´Art Contemporani de Barcelona - MACBA, Barcelona | Group | |
2011 | Concerning the Spiritual Tradition in Russian Art: Selections from the Kolodzei Art Foundation | CAM - Chelsea Art Museum, New York City, NY | Group | |
2011 | Rare Works | Mimi Fertz Gallery, New York City, NY | Group | |
2010 | Field of Action. The Moscow Conceptualist School in Context 1970s-1980s | Ekaterina Foundation, Moscow | Group | |
2010 | Contrepoint, l’art contemporain russe | De l’icône à l’avant-garde en passant par le musée -Musée du Louvre, Paris | Group | |
2010 | Things evoke feelings | Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw | Group | |
2010 | Glasnost | Haunch of Venison, London | Group | |
2010 | Quartet–Four Biennials Reflected in Prints | International Centre of Graphic Arts (MGLC), Ljubljana | Group | |
2009 | 1989. Ende der Geschichte oder Beginn der Zukunft? | Kunsthalle Wien (Museumsquartier),Vienna | Group | |
2009 | BLACK&WHITEWORKS | Ronald Feldman Fine Arts Inc, New York City, NY | Group | |
2009 | The Making of Art | Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt | Group | |
2009 | Great Impressions II | Dean Jensen Gallery, Milwaukee, WI | Group | |
2009 | Tier-Werden, Mensch-Werden | Neue Gesellschaft für Bildende Kunst (NGBK), Berlin | Group | |
2009 | Contemporary Russian Art | Egon Schiele Art Centrum Cesky Krumlov, Ceský Krumlov | Group | |
2009 | Tauwetter und die Zeit danach. Moskauer Künstler 1958-2008 | Teil II - Sandmann,Berlin | Group | |
2009 | History of Russian Video Art. Volume 2 | Moscow museum of modern art - MMOMA, Moscow | Group | |
2009 | La Sombra | Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid | Group | |
2009 | Tauwetter und die Zeit danach | Teil I - Moskauer Maler 1958-1986 - Sandmann,Berlin | Group | |
2008 | Komar & Melamid - Super Objects-Super Comfort for Super People | Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase, NY | Solo | |
2008 | Drawing Review: 37 Years of Works on Paper | Ronald Feldman Fine Arts Inc, New York City, NY | Group | |
2008 | OURS: Democracy in the Age of Branding | Sheila C. Johnson Design Center, New York City, NY | Group | |
2008 | La Ilustracion total - Rte Conceptual de Moscu 1960-1990 | Fundación Juan March, Madrid | Group | |
2008 | Contemporary Russian Art - Russian soc-art | MODEM Centre for Modern and Contemporary Arts, Debrecen | Group | |
2008 | Die totale Aufklärung | Moskauer Konzeptkunst - Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt | Group | |
2008 | Moscow – New York = Parallel Play | CAM - Chelsea Art Museum, New York City, NY | Group | |
2007 | Sots Art. Art politique en Russie de 1972 à aujourd'hui | La Maison Rouge, Paris | Group | |
2007 | Consumption Junction | Canzani Center Gallery at Columbus College of Art & Design,Columbus, OH | Group | |
2007 | Prophets of Deceit | Canzani Center Gallery at Columbus College of Art & Design, Columbus, OH | Group | |
2007 | Movement. Evolution. Art | Ekaterina Foundation, Moscow | Group | |
2007 | Thaw | The State Russian Museum - Marble Palace, St. Petersburg | Group | |
2007 | Mr. President | University Art Museum University at Albany, State University of New York,Albany, NY | Group | |
2006 | Territories of Terror: Mythologies and Memories of the Gulag in Contemporary Russian-American Art | Boston University Art Gallery - BUAG, Boston, MA | Group | |
2006 | Prophets of Deceit | CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, San Francisco, CA | Group | |
2006 | Going Ape - Confronting Animals in Contemporary Art | DeCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, Lincoln, MA | Group | |
2006 | Artists Against The State: Perestroika Revisited | Ronald Feldman Fine Arts Inc, New York City, NY | Group | |
2006 | ¡Rusia! | Museo Guggenheim de Arte Moderno y Contemporáneo, Bilbao | Group | |
2006 | Interrupted Histories | Moderna galerija Ljubljana, Ljubljana | Group | |
2006 | Natural Reaction | Tastes Like Chicken Art Space, New York City, NY | Group | |
2005 | Angels of History - Moscow Conceptualism and its influence | MuHKA Museum voor Hedendaagse Kunst Antwerpen, Antwerp | Group | |
2005 | Russia! | Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York City, NY | Group | |
2005 | Moscow Grafika | International Print Center New York, New York City, NY | Group | |
2005 | East Art Museum | Karl-Ernst-Osthaus-Museum, Hagen | Group | |
2005 | Atomica | Lombard Freid Gallery, New York City, NY | Group | |
2005 | The Theatre of Art - Masterpieces from the Collection of the Ludwig Museum, Colo | Villa Manin. Centro d'arte contemporanea, Codroipo, UD | Group | |
2005 | Bellum - Bellum: Gedächtnis dreier Generationen | Sandmann, Berlin | Group | |
2005 | The Corcoran 2005 Print Portfolio - Drawn to Representation | The Corcoran Gallery of Art,Washington, DC | Group | |
2005 | Interessi Zero | Galleria Civica di Trento, Trento | Group | |
2004 | The Seven Sins | Moderna galerija Ljubljana, Ljubljana | Group | |
2004 | 2004 Summer Print Sale | IKON Ltd, Santa Monica, CA | Group | |
2004 | The International Jewish Artist of the Year finalists show | Ben Uri Gallery - The London Jewish Museum of Art, London | Group | |
2004 | Arthaus Cape Cod | Ethan Cohen Fine Arts, New York City, NY | Group | |
2004 | A Painting for Over the Sofa (that’s not necessarily a painting) | Spencer Museum of Art,Lawrence, KS | Group | |
2004 | Under $2,000 Albers < Zaugg | Brooke Alexander Editions, New York City, NY | Group | |
2003 | Komar & Melamid - Desperately Seeking A Masterpiece | Kawamura Memorial Museum of Art, Chiba | Solo | |
2003 | Marat Gelman's Gift | The State Russian Museum - Marble Palace, St. Petersburg | Group | |
2003 | Ortstermin Moskau - 1970 und die Zeit danach | Sandmann, Berlin | Group | |
2003 | Berlin-Moskau Moskau-Berlin 1950-2000 | Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin | Group | |
2003 | Traumfabrik Kommunismus | Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt | Group | |
2003 | LA International | IKON Ltd, Santa Monica, CA | Group | |
2003 | Ameri©an Dre@m: A Survey | Ronald Feldman Fine Arts Inc, New York City, NY | Group | |
2002 | Komar and Melamid - Asian Elephant Art And Conservation Project | Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive BAM - PFA, Berkeley, CA | Solo | |
2002 | Pop Patriotism | Momenta Art, New York City, NY | Group | |
2002 | International Arteast Collection 2000+ - Nacionalna Galerija | Cifte Amam, Skopje | Group | |
2002 | Iconoclash - Jenseits der Bilderkriege in Wissenschaft, Religion und Kunst | ZKM | Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe | Group | |
2002 | ARTEAST 2000+ | ZKM | Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe | Group | |
2002 | Das rote Haus | Städtische Galerie Villa Zanders, Bergisch Gladbach | Group | |
2002 | Moscow Time | Contemporary Art Centre (CAC), Vilnius | Group | |
2001 | The People's Choice | University Art Museum University at Albany, State University of New York, Albany, NY | Solo | |
2001 | Vitaly Komar and Alexander Melamid: The People's choice - Painting | Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw | Solo | |
2001 | Komar & Melamid’s American Dreams | Philadelphia Art Alliance, Philadelphia, PA | Solo | |
2001 | A Work in Progress - Selections from the New Museum Collection | New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York City, NY | Group | |
2001 | Summer Exhibition 2001 | Ronald Feldman Fine Arts Inc, New York City, NY | Group | |
2001 | Democratic Art? | Sprovieri, London | Group | |
2001 | Body and the East | Exit Art, New York City, NY | Group | |
2000 | Komar and Melamid’s: Asian Elephant Art and Conservation Project | Galleries at Moore College of Art & Design, Philadelphia, PA | Solo | |
2000 | Fugitive Sites - New Contemporary Art | InSite, San Diego, CA | Group | |
2000 | Lebt und arbeitet in Wien | Kunsthalle wien project space karlsplatz, Vienna | Group | |
2000 | Forbidden Art: The Postwar Russian Avant-Garde | McMullen Museum of Art, Boston College,Chestnut Hill, MA | Group | |
2000 | Critic as Grist | Whitebox Art Center, New York City, NY | Group | |
2000 | The Art of Eastern Europe in Dialogue with the West | Moderna galerija Ljubljana, Ljubljana | Group | |
2000 | Beaver Tales | Oakville Galleries, Oakville, ON | Group | |
2000 | Dein Wille geschehe … | Der Ort internationaler Gegenwartskunst in Berlin,Berlin | Group | |
2000 | L´autre moitie de l´Europe | Jeu de Paume, Paris | Group | |
2000 | The End: An Independent Vision of Contemporary Culture, 1982-2000 | Exit Art, New York City, NY | Group | |
1999 | Empires without States | SI Swiss Institute, New York City, NY | Group | |
1999 | Modernism & Postmodernism - Rusian Art of the Ending Millenium | Plattsburg State Art Museum, Plattsburgh, NY | Group | |
1999 | 48th International Art Exhibition Venice Biennale | La Biennale di Venezia,Venice | Group | |
1999 | SEEditions | Greg Kucera Gallery, Seattle, WA | Group | |
1998 | Komar & Melamid | Galerie Karenina, Vienna | Solo | |
1998 | Sarajevo 2000 | Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig - MUMOK , Vienna | Group | |
1998 | René Magritte en de hedendaagse kunst | Mu.ZEE, Oostend | Group | |
1998 | The Social Club | Exit Art, New York City, NY | Group | |
1997 | Komar & Melamid | Ronald Feldman Fine Arts Inc, New York City, NY | Solo | |
1997 | Komar& Melamid - The most wanted - the most unwanted picture | Museum Ludwig, Cologne | Solo | |
1997 | The People's Choice: het meest gewenste en het minst gewenste schilderij van Nederland | Kunsthal Rotterdam, Rotterdam | Solo | |
1997 | Heroic Painting | University Museum of Contemporary Art - UMass Amherst, Amherst, MA | Group | |
1997 | 47th International Art Exhibition Venice Biennale | La Biennale di Venezia,Venice | Group | |
1996 | Monumental Propaganda | Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, MO | Solo | |
1996 | Quartos Duplos (Chambres Doubles) | Centro de Arte Moderna - CAM - Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, Lisbon | Group | |
1996 | Withdrawing | Ronald Feldman Fine Arts Inc, New York City, NY | Group | |
1995 | Le Gout Des Francais En Peinture | Passage de Retz, Paris | Solo | |
1995 | Komar and Melamid's - The People's Choice and Art for the People: A Response from Seattle | Henry Art Gallery, Seattle, WA | Solo | |
1995 | 4. International İstanbul Biennial | International Istanbul Biennial, Istanbul | Group | |
1995 | Trust | Tramway, Glasgow, Scotland | Group | |
1994 | Transformers | Hessel Museum of Art & Center for Curatorial Studies Galleries at Bard College,Annandale-on-Hudson, NY | Group | |
1994 | Altered Egos | Santa Monica Museum of Art, Santa Monica, CA | Group | |
1994 | Europa, Europa | Bundeskunsthalle,Bonn | Group | |
1993 | Summer '93 | Ronald Feldman Fine Arts Inc, New York City, NY | Group | |
1992 | Slow Art - Painting in New York Now | MoMA PS1, New York City, NY | Group | |
1991 | Illegal American | Ben Maltz Gallery at Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles, CA | Group | |
1991 | Editions | Ronald Feldman Fine Arts Inc, New York City, NY | Group | |
1991 | Out of Site: Part II | MoMA PS1, New York City, NY | Group | |
1990 | Komar and Melamid: Yalta 1945 & Winter in Moscow 1977 | Brooklyn Museum of Art, New York City, NY | Solo | |
1990 | The Decade Show: Frameworks of Identity in the 1980s | New Museum of Contemporary Art,New York City, NY | Group | |
1990 | Illegal America | Exit Art, New York City, NY | Group | |
1989 | Russians in America | University of North Texas Art Gallery, Denton, TX | Solo | |
1989 | Komar & Melamid | Ronald Feldman Fine Arts Inc, New York City, NY | Solo | |
1989 | 18th International Biennial of Graphic Arts | Ljubljana Biennial of Graphic Arts, Ljubljana | Group | |
1989 | Don't Bungle in the Jungle! - A Benefit Exhibition for the Rainforest | Tony Shafrazi Gallery,New York City, NY | Group | |
1987 | Komar And Melamid: Painting History | ACCA - Australian Centre for Contemporary Art,Melbourne, VIC | Solo | |
1987 | Komar & Melamid | Ronald Feldman Fine Arts Inc, New York City, NY | Solo | |
1987 | Painting History | IMA Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane, QLD | Solo | |
1987 | Documenta 8 | Documenta, Kassel | Group | |
1987 | Immigrants and Refugees - Heroes or Villains | Exit Art, New York City, NY | Group | |
1986 | Komar and Melamid | New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York City, NY | Solo | |
1986 | Komar & Melamid - Temple Contemporary | Tyler School of Art, Philadelphia, PA | Solo | |
1986 | Prospect '86 | Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt | Group | |
1986 | Sots Art | New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York City, NY | Group | |
1985 | Komar and Melamid | Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland | Solo | |
1985 | Komar & Melamid - Solo Exhibit | Ronald Feldman Fine Arts Inc, New York City, NY | Solo | |
1985 | 18° Bienal de Sao Paulo | Bienal de Sao Paulo, São Paulo | Group | |
1985 | Synesthetics: Writers and Artists | MoMA PS1, New York City, NY | Group | |
1984 | Komar & Melamid's Version of Russian History | University of Iowa Museum of Art, Iowa City, IA | Solo | |
1984 | Révolutions par minute | Musée d´art contemporain de Montréal, Montreal, QC | Group | |
1984 | International Survey of Recent Painting and Sculpture | MoMA - Museum of Modern Art, New York City, NY | Group | |
1984 | The New Portrait | Villa Manin. Centro d'arte contemporanea, Codroipo, UD | Group | |
1983 | 1984 – A Preview | Ronald Feldman Fine Arts Inc, New York City, NY | Group | |
1982 | Komar & Melamid - Solo Exhibition | Ronald Feldman Fine Arts Inc, New York City, NY | Solo | |
1982 | Beast: Animal Imagery in Recent Painting | MoMA PS1, New York City, NY | Group | |
1982 | The Atomic Salon | Ronald Feldman Fine Arts Inc, New York City, NY | Group | |
1982 | Illegal America | Exit Art, New York City, NY | Group | |
1982 | Revolutions Per Minute | Ronald Feldman Fine Arts Inc, New York City, NY | Group | |
1982 | Ébauches : dix ans de dessins d'installations | Musée d´art contemporain de Montréal,Montreal, QC | Group | |
1982 | The Ronald Reagan Show | MoMA PS1, New York City, NY | Group | |
1982 | War Games | Ronald Feldman Fine Arts Inc, New York City, NY | Group | |
1982 | OCTOPUS: An Act of Sculpture by Papo Colo | Exit Art, New York City, NY | Group | |
1978 | Couples | MoMA PS1, New York City, NY | Group |