Andrei Molodkin (born 1966) is a Russian born conceptual artist living and working in Paris, France.

Biography

Molodkin was born in Buy, Kostroma Oblast, a small town in North-Western Russia. He served in the Soviet Army for two years from 1985 to 1987 transporting missiles across Siberia. He later graduated from the Architecture and Interior design department at the Stroganov Moscow State University of Arts and Industry in 1992.

Work and career

Molodkin's practise comprises drawing, sculpture and installation. His drawings are made in ball-point pen, an implement that references his experiences in the Soviet Military "where soldiers would receive two Bics a day to write letters", they are often "laboriously drawn replicas of mass-media images". His sculptures and installations often employ materials techniques and practices common in engineering "Molodkin creates a complex mechanical system consisting of air compressors, cast-iron pumps, and plastic tubing" that pump liquids (most commonly blood and/or crude oil) around hollowed perspex replicas of sculptures and architecture, as well as politically loaded words and phrases. According to Douglas Rogers, author of 'The Depths of Russia: Oil, Power and Culture After Socialism', "His olodkinwork draws attention to the technical systems that channel political and economic configurations and to the ways in which words, concepts and spaces can be colored, inflected, shaped and filled by their associations with oil." In 2009 Molodkin was invited to participate in the Russian Pavilion of the 53rd

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...

, the exhibition was named 'Victory Over The Future'. For the Pavilion Molodkin submitted his 2009 work 'Le Rouge et le Noir', a multimedia installation that featured a two hollow acrylic block replicas of the statue of Nike of Samothrace, a Hellenistic sculpture on permanent display at the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

depicting

Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine give ...

, the Greek goddess of victory. The installation featured the blood of a Russian soldier and veteran of the Chechen War being mixed, using a system of pumps, with Chechen oil inside the cavities of the blocks. The piece was deemed too controversial leading to the pavilion's curator removing the description of the piece from display. A 2013 exhibition by Molodkin in the Void Gallery in Derry entitled 'Catholic Blood' was created specifically for the context of Derry and Northern Ireland. 'Catholic Blood' tapped into contentious historical divides in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, as its subject is based in the

Catholic Relief Act The Roman Catholic Relief Bills were a series of measures introduced over time in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries before the Parliaments of Great Britain and the United Kingdom to remove the restrictions and prohibitions impose ...

of 1829 and a particular clause of the British constitution that reportedly forbids any MP from advising the sovereign on ecclesiastical matters if they are of the Catholic faith, though this was disputed by Dr Bob Morris, an expert in constitutional affairs at

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

. Molodkin correctly asserted, "Yes, but there have been no Catholic prime ministers, perhaps when we talk about it we will get one." The work was controversial in its choice of materials which consisted of blood donated by local Catholics, a specification that was met with resistance. The project required the participation of the public, thirty-six people came forward to donate their blood, including the son of a Catholic Priest. The piece was constructed from hollowed acrylic blocks, mirroring the rose window of the Palace of Westminster. A pharmaceutical fridge contained samples of donated human blood and an industrial compressor pumped this blood through the cavity of the rose window in the acrylic block. This was simultaneously filmed and projected onto the gallery walls. Molodkin, reflecting on the exhibition and the vociferous reaction, stated: "Some people were angry that I hadn't used both Catholic and Protestant blood. They felt cheated that I had only chosen to use Catholic blood. It was never my intention to mix religions - the intensity is in the separation. He currently lives and works between the French capital,

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, and Maubourguet in Southern France. His work is held in a number of significant public and private collections, including the

Tate Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...

national collection.

Solo exhibitions

2014 *Transformer No.M208, Ducal Palace, Genova. 2013 *Immigrant Blood, Patricia Dorfmann Gallery, Paris. *Catholic Blood, Void Gallery, Derry. *Post-Utopian Simulacrum, Wooson Gallery, Daegu. *Crude, American University Museum, Washington, D.C. 2012 *Liquid Black, Museum Villa Stuck, Munich. 2011 *Crude, Station Museum of Contemporary Art, Houston. *Transformer No.V579, Art Sensus Gallery, London. *Sincere, Galleria Pack, Milan. *Crude, Art Sensus, London 2010 *Absolute Return, Orel Art Gallery, Paris. 2009 *Andrei Molodkin: Liquid Modernity (Grid and Greed), Orel Art Gallery, London.
*Swiss Passion, Priska Pasquer Gallery, Cologne. *Oil Evolution, Daneyal Mahmood Gallery, New York. 2008 *Guts à la Russe, Orel Art Gallery, Paris. 2007 *Direct From The Pipe, ANNE+ Art Projects, Ivry sur Seine,France. *G8, Kashya Hildebrand Gallery, Zurich, Switzerland *Sweet Crude American Dream, Daneyal Mahmood Gallery, New York 2006 *Cold War II, Orel Art Gallery, Paris *Empire at War, Daneyal Mahmood Gallery, New York *Sweet Crude Eternity, Kashya Hildebrand Gallery, Zurich, Switzerland 2005 *Sweet crude Eternity, Kashya Hildebrand Gallery, New York 2004 *Notre Patrimoine, European Parliament, Brussels *Trash resources, Kashya Hildebrand Gallery, New York 2003 *Love Copyright, Orel Art Presenta Gallery, Paris *Love Copyright, Kashya Hildebrand Gallery, New York 2002 *Polius, Chapelle Saint-Louis de la Salpêtrière, Orel Art Presenta Gallery, Paris *Carré Noir Gallery, Paris 2001 *Novo Novosibirsk, The Marble Palace, Russian State Museum, St. Petersburg *Blue Dream, Freud's Dream Museum, St. Petersburg 1999 *Novo Novosibirsk, Chapelle Saint-Louis de la Salpêtrière, Paris

Literature

*Andrei Molodkin: ''Post-Utopian Simulacrum'', eds. Wooson Gallery, Daegu, 2013. *Andrei Molodkin: ''Crude'', eds. Silvana Editoriale, The Station Museum, Houston, 2013. *Andrei Molodkin: ''Absolute Return'', eds. Silvana Editoriale, Musée d'Art Moderne de Saint-Etienne Métropole, France, 2011. *Andrei Molodkin: ''Holy Oil'', 2010. *Andrei Molodkin: ''Liquid Modernity'', 2009. *Andrei Molodkin: ''Cold War II'', eds. Victor Tupitsyn and Margarita Tupitsyn, Kashya Hildebrand Gallery, Zurich, 2007.

References

External links

Andrei-Molodkin on re-title.com

Interview with Molodkin in The Times

BBC feature on Molodkin
{{DEFAULTSORT:Molodkin, Andrei 20th-century Russian painters Russian male painters 21st-century Russian painters Living people 1966 births 20th-century Russian male artists 21st-century Russian male artists Stroganov Moscow State Academy of Arts and Industry alumni