Yuri Zlotnikov (1930–2016) – is one of the undisputed classics of Russian contemporary art scene, one of the first abstractionists of the Thaw period. Zlotnikov's use of the system approach to the creation of artistic language distinguishes his work when compared to other ways in which Abstractionism is represented within the Neo Avant-Garde.
Yuri Zlotkikov was born in 1930 in Moscow. From 1943 to 1950 he studied at Moscow Secondary Art School at the USSR Academy of Arts. At the same time he was engaged in a sculpture studio at the museum of A.S. Golubkina led by A.I. Grigoryeva. He attended lectures at the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, visited the house of the Favorsky-Efimov. From 1954 to 1856 Zlotnikov worked at the Bolshoi Theater as a student - decorator together with A. Tyshler, V. Ryndin. I. Rabinovich. In the mid-1950s, Yuri Zlotnikov began to engage in abstract art after attending lectures on cybernetics and mathematics. His interests in a close circle of like-minded people were shared by artists V. Slepyan and B. Turetsky. In 1956-1957 Zlotnikov developed the “Signaling System” in the visual arts, within the framework of which there is a thorough rapprochement of the scientific and artistic paradigms.
In 1972 he was admitted to the Moscow Union of Artists. He was awarded the silver medal of the Russian Academy of Arts in 1998. In 1990-2000 he continued his plastic experiments working on the series: “Spatial constructions”, “Jerusalem”, “Spatial combinatorics”, “Polyphony” and others. In these series he constantly made unexpected creative discoveries. Zlotnikov passed away in 2016 in Moscow. The artist left a rich legacy for future generations.
Yuri Zlotnikov's works are in the collections of:
Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers University. New Brunswick. New Jersey. USA
Centre Pompidou. Paris. France
The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts. Moscow
The State Tretyakov Gallery. Moscow.
National Center for Contemporary Art. Moscow
Moscow Museum of Modern Art. Moscow
State Literature Museum. Moscow
ART4 Museum. Moscow
The Sakharov Center. Moscow
Tolstoy National Museum.Moscow
State Russian Museum. St. Petersburg
State Historical, Architectural, Art and Landscape Museum-Reserve Tsaritsyno. Moscow
Far Eastern Art Museum. Khabarovsk