Mihail Chemiakin

Shemyakin Mihail (or Chemiakin, Russian: Михаил Шемякин, born 4 May 1943) is a Russian painter, stage designer, sculptor and publisher, and a controversial representative of the nonconformist art tradition of St. Petersburg.

In 1957, he was accepted into the Repin Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture where he studied from 1957 to 1961.
In 1962, Shemyakin's first exhibition opened in the premises of Zvezda magazine.
In 1967, he founded the Petersburg group of artists.
He emigrated from the USSR in 1971: after numerous arrests of exhibitions, confiscations of his works and forced treatment in psychiatric hospitals, the authorities deported Shemyakin from the USSR to France in 1971, under threat of criminal prosecution. According to Mikhail Shemyakin, the initiator of the persecution was often not the KGB, but the Union of Artists of the USSR.
He moved to New York in 1981. His investigations into the art of all times and peoples, initiated in the 1960s, grew into a collection of millions of images structured according to technical, historical and philosophical categories, for which the artist was awarded five honorary doctorates. This collection served as the basis for the creation of the Institute of Philosophy and Psychology of Creativity (France).

In 2007, Chemiakin returned to France, where he settled near the town of Châteauroux.
The range in which Mikhail Shemyakin works is very wide: from drawing to monumental sculpture, theatre and cinema. His subject matter is also varied: from the theatrical grotesque to metaphysical images.
His work can be found all over the world, both in private collections and simply on the streets of big cities (New York, London, San Francisco, Moscow, St Petersburg).

Discover contemporary artworks by Mihail Chemiakin, browse recent artworks and buy online. Categories: russian contemporary artists. Artistic domains: Sculpture, Painting. Artist represented by Mkrtchyan Gallery. Account type: Artist , member since 2005 (Country of origin Russia). Buy Mihail Chemiakin's latest works on ArtMajeur: Discover great art by contemporary artist Mihail Chemiakin. Browse artworks, buy original art or high end prints.

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