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		BULATOV Erik

Biographical information: 1933 Born, Swerdlowsk, Ural;
1952 - 1958 Studied at the Surikov Art Institute, Moscow, Russia;
1960 - 1969 In the 1960s Bulatov formed the Sretensky Boulevard Group with Ilya Kabakov, Eduard Shteinberg, Vladimir Yankilevsky, and Viktor Pivovarov;
1980 - 1989 His `philosophical Sots art` in the second half of the 1980s earned him wide renown as the `artist of perestroyka` (political and economic transformation), whose work symbolized the advent of a new stage in Russian art;
In 2008 Bulatov became an honorary member of the Russian Academy of Arts;
Lives and works in Paris, France.
Collections where works are held: Museum Maillol - Fondation Dina Vierny, Paris;
Museum Ludwig, Cologne;
MUDAM - Musée d’Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean, Luxembourg Art4.ru - contemporary art museum;
Moscow National Center For Contemporary Art (NCCA) - Moscow Branch;
Moscow The State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow;
Schaulager, Münchenstein / Basel;
Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, New Brunswick, NJ;
Participation in exhibitions and auctions: SELECTED SOLO EXHIBTIONS:
2009 Erik Bulatov - Arndt & Partner - Berlin + Zurich, Berlin;
2008 Erik Bulatov - The Vault of Heaven - Galerie Pièce Unique, Paris;
2007 Day-Night - Galerie Skopia, Geneva;
2006 Look! - State Tretyakov Gallery, Ìîscow;
2006 Eric Boulatov - Kestner Gesellschaft Hannover, Hannover;
1999 Erik Boulatov - Musée Maillol - Fondation Dina Vierny, Paris;
1989 Erik Bulatov - The Renaissance Society at The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL;
1988 Erik Boulatov - Centre Pompidou - Musée National d´Art Moderne, Paris;
1998 Paintings - De Appel, Amsterdam;
1998 Erik Bulatov - Ilya Kabakov - Bonner Kunstverein, Bonn;
1998 Erik Bulatov - Portikus, Frankfurt/Main;

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS:
2010 MOCA - Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville, Jacksonville, FL;
2009 L`Espèce de chose mélancolie - Mamco - musée d´art moderne et contemporain, Geneva;
2009 GO EAST II - Mudam Collection supported by KBL European Private Bankers - MUDAM - Musée d’Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean, Luxembourg;
2009 "Das Tauwetter und die Zeit danach. Perestrojka - Moskauer Künstler (1986-1996)" - Teil III - Sandmann - Berlin, Berlin ;
2009 Movie Painting - National Center For Contemporary Art (NCCA) - Moscow Branch, Moscow;
2008 Russian avant-garde. Non-conformists from the Bar-Gera collections - Slovak National Gallery / Slovenská Národná Galéria, Bratislava;
2008 La Ilustracion total - Rte Conceptual de Moscu 1960-1990 - Fundación Juan March, Madrid;
2008 Die totale Aufklärung - Moskauer Konzeptkunst - Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt/Main;
2008 Russian Art - Danubiana - Meulensteen Art Museum, Bratislava;
2008Moscow – New York = Parallel Play - CAM - Chelsea Art Museum, New York City, NY;
2007 Sots Art. Art politique en Russie de 1972 à aujourd`hui - La Maison Rouge, Paris;
2007 Marilyn Monroe, Life as a Legend - Sioux City Art Center, Sioux City, IA;
2007 Marilyn Monroe - Life as a Legend - The Dayton Art Institute, Dayton, OH;
2007 Schönwahnsinnig - Stiftung Schleswig-Holsteinische Landesmuseen - Schloss Gottorf, Schleswig;
2006 Life as a Legend - Marilyn Monroe - Boca Raton Museum of Art, Boca Raton, FL;
2006 Marilyn - The Women`s Museum, Dallas, TX;
2006Sammeln und Entdecken - Galerie Schrade & Blashofer, Karlsruhe;
2006 Essence of Life Art - The State Russian Museum - Marble Palace, St. Petersburg;
2006 Artists Against The State: Perestroika Revisited - Ronald Feldman Fine Arts Inc, New York City, NY;
2006 Rusia! - Museo Guggenheim de Arte Moderno y Contemporáneo, Bilbao;
2005 Essence of Life Art - The State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow;
2005 Angels of History - Moscow Conceptualism and its influence - MuHKA Museum voor Hedendaagse Kunst Antwerpen, Antwerp;
2005 Russia! - Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York City, NY;
2005 Essence of Life - Essence of Art - Ludwig Museum - Museum of Contemporary Art - Budapest, Budapest;
2005 The Theatre of Art - Masterpieces from the Collection of the Ludwig Museum, Colo - Villa Manin. Centro d`arte contemporanea, Codroipo (UD) ;
2004 "Eine kurze Zeit ...lang" - Dany Keller Galerie, Munich;
2004 Passage d´Europe - Musée d`Art moderne de Saint-Etienne, Saint-Etienne;
2004 Non-Konformisten aus Moskau - Ludwig Museum im Deutschherrenhaus, Koblenz;
2003 Berlin-Moskau Moskau-Berlin 1950-2000 - , Berlin;
2003 Traumfabrik Kommunismus - Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt/Main;
2003 50th International Art Exhibition Venice Biennale / Biennale di Venezia - La Biennale di Venezia, Venice;
2003 "Marilyn. The life of a legend" - County Hall Gallery, London (England) ;
2001 Hypermental - Wahnhafte Wirklichkeit 1950 - 2000 - Von Salvador Dali bis Jeff K - Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg;
2000 Cosmos - From Goya to De Chirico from Friedrich to Kiefer - Palazzo Grassi - Francois Pinault Foundation, Venice;
1999 Examining Pictures - Exhibition of 56 artists links generations of painters - Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago - MCA Chicago, Chicago, IL;
1997 2nd Gwangju Biennale - Unmapping The Earth - Gwangju Biennale, Gwangju;
1990 Artisti russi contemporanei - Centro per l´Arte Contemporanea Luigi Pecci, Prato.
Autobiographical notes
What the critics say: Bulatov`s subject matter is broad. Equally broad is his perception of the government`s role in the classification and control of everything. Bulatov symbolizes the government through his use of language as a system of order and control, the foundation of written law and constraint which he then plasters on every tree and rock. It is in this sense that Bulatov`s paintings may take on a more universal accuracy and a more populist appeal. His emphasis on only the public and external aspects of life--the street, the land, the State television broadcast--reinforces the notion that one`s thoughts and feelings are (still) one`s own. the psychological and emotional are beyond the confines of words, language and law. This literal irony and contradiction is symbolically enriched and layered through Bulatov`s deft use of Social Realism, the government`s traditional mechanism for pictorial communication. His wordless images of Brezhnev have all the trappings of officialdom: a crisp pose, a heroic gaze, the flags of the communist States. However, the calculated flatness and lack of flourish in Bulatov`s style tends to rub off on his subjects, making them seem the victims of their own constraints. Bulatov`s paintings are unflattering without being overtly critical; his sly matter-of factness is too accurate to be false.
Joe Scanlan. The Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago.
Bibliography: Damien Sausset. Erik Bulatov: O // Kerber (August 31, 2009)

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