Bartenev Andrey

1969

Andrey Bartenev was born in polar Norilsk, graduated from the Krasnodar State Institute of Culture as a theatre director. His career started off in the late 1980s in the Salon of Independent Artists, an association of young artists in Sochi. At the dawn of the 1990s he burst into Moscow artistic life with his works that synthesized art, music, fashion and visual arts. Bartenev’s renowned performance “Botanical Ballet”, which involved moving sculptures, was awarded the Grand Prix at the Untamed Fashion Assembly in Jurmala in 1992. By that time the artist became sought-after around the world. In the 2000s he began to work actively in theater: he collaborated with renowned American director Robert Wilson, making performances and exhibition projects. Winner of the first independent award "Triumph" (2002), and one of the representatives of Russia at the 52nd Venice Biennale in 2007, Andrey Bartenev became a vital part of contemporary Russian art as one of its most original protagonists. In 2015 MMOMA hosted his major retrospective exhibition, which allowed to take a fresh look at his art.

Anastasia Maltseva