Alexander Ney
Alexander Ney | |
|---|---|
| File:Alex Ney Moonwatcher 1986.jpg "Moonwatcher" (1986) | |
| Born | 1939 Leningrad, U.S.S.R. |
| Nationality |  United States |
| Education | Russian Academy of Arts, Repin Institute of Arts, Surikov Moscow Art Institute |
| Known for | Mixed Media, Sculpture, Painting |
| Notable work | 'Burning Bush', 'The Thinker' |
| Patron(s) | Gene Moore, Elaine de Kooning |
Alexander Ney (Template:Lang-ru) ((Alexander Konstantinovich Nejdanov) (born 1939, in Leningrad, Russia) is an American sculptor and painter. He immigrated to the United States in 1974 and has since lived and worked in New York. Developing several individualistic styles in modern art, he is most famous for his unique work in terra cotta sculpture, involving heavily perforated surfaces and intriguing forms.
Early life
Born at the outbreak of World War II, Ney's early childhood was entrenched in difficulty. Two weeks before Ney became 2 years old, the Siege of Leningrad was launched, described by historians as the second most lethal battle in the war's tragic history. The pivotal city’s rail connections were severed, cutting off all access to any food and power supplies. In the following winter that ensued, between two and three million civilians—including 400,000 children—died during the Leningrad Blockade.
Biography
After being given private art lessons at the home of influential Russian sculptor V.V. Lishev (1877–1960), from 1954 to 1957 Ney studied at the Art School of the Leningrad Academy of Arts, and later at the Art School of the Surikov Moscow Art Institute from 1957 to 1959. Ney befriended a wide number of progressive-minded art students, now stars of the contemporary Russian art scene such as Alexander Kosolapov, Leonid Sokov, Alexander Yulikov, Lev Nussberg and Vadim Kosmatschof.[1] His relentless efforts in creating strikingly new interpretations of art quickly made the young artist legendary amidst his peers. Artists Alexander Kosolapov and Igor Makarevich, amongst others, recall that Ney played an influential role in their early years.[2]
From 1965 to 1967, Ney taught sculpture to children at the House of Young Pioneers in Leningrad. Students included future Russian novelist Sergei Dovlatov (1941–1990).
In 1967 through 1969, Ney attended art history and theory courses at the Ilya Repin Institute. He continued to perfect his skills as both a painter and sculptor, as well as an art theoretician.
Due to his highly productive creative output's clashing with the Soviet mandates of Socialist Realism, Ney absconded to France in 1972 on a tourist visa, as immigration was not permitted. In 1974, at the encouragement of American Abstract Expressionist painter Elaine de Kooning (wife of Willem), he immigrated with his family to the United States.[3]
Public collections
Notable collections of Ney’s sculptures, paintings and drawings are held at:
- Museum Beelden aan Zee, containing the largest collection of international sculpture in the Netherlands
- The State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia
- The State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia
- The State Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow, Russia
- The Moscow Museum of Modern Art, Moscow, Russia
- The National Centre for Contemporary Arts, Moscow, Russia
- The ART4.RU Museum of Contemporary Russian Art, Moscow, Russia
- The Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers University, USA
- The Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, USA
- The Mead Art Museum, Massachusetts, USA
- The McMullen Museum of Art, Massachusetts, USA
References
- ^ TRANS_MISSION: Vadim Kosmatschof Organic Solar Sculptures. Springer Vienna Architecture. 2007. p. 20. ISBN 3-211-70972-X.
- ^ In Pursuit of Meaning: Alexander Ney in the NCCA and From Private Collections. National Center for Contemporary Arts. 2009. p. 70. ISBN 5-94620-056-9.
- ^ http://www.alexanderney.com/pdf/Villager1994.pdf Sculptor Stresses Ideas in His Ceramics, The Villager, February 20, 1994. Accessed July 18, 2012