Yury Zlotnikov

Painter, graphic artist. Born in the family of Savely Zlotnikov in Moscow (1930). Graduated from the Moscow Secondary School of Art (1950). Studied sculpture under A. Grigoriev at the Anna Golubkina Museum and attended lectures at the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts. Worked as a designer at the Exhibition of Economic Achievements (1951–59). Trained at the Bolshoi Theatre (from 1954). Created first abstract works (1955–56). Began painting figurative works in the 1950s, though switched over to purely abstract forms in the early 1960s. Painted pictures with attributes from Soviet life during the Thaw – hats in shops, black ZIS-101 cars and grey crowds. Collaborated with Vladimir Slepian and shared his interest in non-objective painting (mid-1950s). Influenced by scientific achievements and developments in nuclear physics, painted his first abstract picture – Geiger Counter (1955–56). The peak of his activities coincided with the Thaw, when he developed his system of “signal painting” – compositions of straight lines, circles and dots of local colours on white paper (late 1950s– early 1960s). Such works anticipated his later “systematic painting” and minimalism (1960s). Work on this series was based on an analysis of man’s psychology and tactile-sensual experiences and a study of the communicative possibilities of abstract painting. Crossed over to minimalism and mainly worked in an Expressionist style (second half of the 1960s). Member of the Union of Artists (1972 or 1974). Lives and works in Moscow. Contributed to exhibitions in private apartments (from 1956) and abroad (from 1988), including a joint exhibition with Igor Ganikovsky, Natalia Smolyanskaya, Yury Kamelin and Ilya Tabenkin at the Galleria Otso in Espoo (1991) and a one-man show at the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow (2004).