Ruben Monakhov Biography

Ruben Monakhov was born in Leningrad in 1970. He received his artistic education at the department of decorative graphics of the Serov Art School in Leningrad (presently known as the Roerikh Art School) in 1991. As a member of the Union of Artists, he has organized about ten solo exhibitions and has participated in numerous group events.

The artist's biography would be incomplete without knowing that Ruben Monakhov is the proud bearer of a wonderful curled-up moustache that harkens back to Salvador Dali! Monakhov's painting is as vivid as his looks. He creates bright, rich scenes and paints still life where tomatoes and oranges are always found. Suffice to say, this vividness also radiates from the topography of his landscapes in Helsinki, Stockholm, Amsterdam, Bruges, Prague, Vyborg, Kronshtadt and, of course, Saint Petersburg. However, the artist never paints the views of Saint Petersburg favoured by the plein air artists. Is he toying with his audience, or is he really not interested in depicting the most beautiful places in the city? He paints the smoggiest cities on the planet but in his pictures they are drenched with sunlight. These unusual sunrays make the industrial constructions and tenement houses melt and their colours fade. In the frameworks of the painting traditions, Monakhov masterfully features his landscapes 'in a favourable light.' He can successfully turn a suburban railway platform into an Italian view.

Artist Statement:

When I was a teenager, I thought that the XXI century — is an unachievable distant future. And now this future already came. Many things that seemed as science fiction before, now — the prosaic reality. But did it make people happier? Modern man is so fed up of visual information that he lost the ability to wonder. Craft of visual simulation has reached such a degree of perfection that absolutely everything becomes possible.But did it make people begin to feel more acute? A XXI century resident is racing through his life with escapism and velocity. The visual aspect of the world rushes in front of him like a continuous tape, and his eyes have time to grab only the most glaring and outstanding, most new and unusual. But even this he does not manage to feel in a full range. Because new information is no longer waiting — it's climbing into his eyes and pushed by the next, like the passengers in the Tokyo subway.
My painting — is a story about the beauty of light and color in the stopped moment of time. No conceptual nonsense or ultra-supernova "ideas". Simply painting. Oil on canvas. In the same way as it was done by many generations of artists. In the same way, but still a little differently. Subjectively. Because painting — is a very personal experience.

 

Selected solo exhibitions:

2011 Depict impressions. Griboyedov Club, Saint Petersburg, Russia. 2010 I See It This Way! "100 Svoih" Gallery, Saint Petersburg, Russia. 2010 The Point of View. Zero Gallery, Saint Petersburg, Russia.

2009 December's Scopophilia. Zero Gallery, Saint Petersburg, Russia. 2009 May's Scopophilia. Selskaya Zhizn' Gallery, Saint Petersburg, Russia. 2008 Raum und Decoration. Colourblind Gallery, Koln, Germany.

2007 Cities. Ofort. Sholokhov Library, Saint Petersburg, Russia. 2005 Endless Journey. S.P.A.S. Gallery, Saint Petersburg, Russia. 2003 Selskaya Zhizn' Gallery, Saint Petersburg, Russia.

1993 Izhorets Cultural Centre, Kolpino, Saint Petersburg, Russia. 1993 Dostoevsky Museum, Saint Petersburg, Russia.

 

Selected group exhibitions:

2012 St. Petersburg-2011. Manege Central Exhibition Hall, Saint Petersburg, Russia. 2011 Not ashamed! Gran-M, Saint Petersburg, Russia.

2011 St. Petersburg-2010. Manege Central Exhibition Hall, Saint Petersburg, Russia. 2010 The Friendship. "100 Svoih" Gallery, Saint Petersburg, Russia.

2010 IV Graphic show "Prints lover". Manege Central Exhibition Hall, Saint Petersburg, Russia.

2010 Art-Craft. Spring Exacerbation Studio. Minor hall of Manege Central Exhibition Hall, Saint Petersburg, Russia.

2010 Flights in Dreams and in Reality. International exhibition-competition, Na Kashirke Gallery, Moscow, Russia.

2010 St. Petersburg-2009. Manege Central Exhibition Hall, Saint Petersburg, Russia.

2009 ARtMATURE. Bulthaup Design Gallery, Saint Petersburg, Russia.

2009 KunStart'09 (presented by Galeria de Arte Gaudí (Madrid)). Bolzano, Italy.

2008 Christmas Exhibition. Galeria de Arte Gaudí, Madrid, Spain.

2008 Lineart'08 (presented by Galeria de Arte Gaudí (Madrid)). Flanders Expo, Ghent, The Netherlands.

2008 Art-Craft Studio "Barcode", Mayakovsky Library, Saint Petersburg, Russia.

2008 Art-Craft Studio "Barcode", Mitki Museum, Saint Petersburg, Russia.

2008 St. Petersburg-2007. Manege Central Exhibition Hall, Saint Petersburg, Russia.

2007 Random Crosslinking. Selskaya Zhizn' Gallery, Saint Petersburg, Russia.

2007 170th Anniversary of Russian Railroad. Railroad Museum, Saint Petersburg, Russia.

2007 About the Railroad. Books & Graphics Centre, Saint Petersburg, Russia.

2007 Red Circle of Constructivism. Jam Hall, Saint Petersburg, Russia.

2006 Random Cross-linking. Selskaya Zhizn' Gallery, Saint Petersburg, Russia.

2006 IV Saint Petersburg Art Galleries Festival, Manege Central Exhibition Hall, Saint Petersburg, Russia.

2006 No Names. Griboyedov Club, Saint Petersburg, Russia.

2004 Hope. Exhibition of young artists, Saint Petersburg, Russia.

2004 Spring exhibition of young artists, Manege Central Exhibition Hall, Saint Petersburg, Russia. 2003 Art-Craft. Alice Gallery, Bordeaux, France.

2003 Art-Craft. Municipality of Bordeaux, France.

2002 Art-Craft. Russian Public Library, Saint Petersburg, Russia.

2000 10 years on the way. Roerikh Art School, Saint Petersburg, Russia.

1997 4 Horisonts. Akhmatova Museum at the Fountain House, Saint Petersburg, Russia.

1993 Young artists of Saint Petersburg. Izhorets Cultural Centre, Kolpino, Saint Petersburg, Russia. 1991 Exhibition of young artists. Leningrad Youth's Palace, Saint Petersburg, Russia.

1987 A part for White Piano. State Chapel on Vasilievsky Island, Saint Petersburg, Russia.

 

Selected Public and Private Collections:

Erarta Museum and Galleries of Contemporary Art, Saint Petersburg, Russia; Colourblind Gallery, Koln, Germany;

Private collections in Russia, USA, Belgium, Germany, UK.