Mihail Chemiakin
1943–
Mihail Chemiakin was born in Moscow in 1943. His incredible talent and insatiable hunger for innovativeness led him to challenge the establishment.
Chemiakin grew up in a military family, spending his formative years with his father in East Germany. His family moved back to the Soviet Union in 1957 and he began studying at the secondary school affiliated with the Repin Institute of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture in Leningrad. Only a few years later, Mihail was subject to mandatory psychiatric treatment for having ideals that did not conform to those of the Soviet Union.
READ MORE +Mihail was unconventional from the beginning of his career on – he initiated an exhibition that caused his museum director to be fired, wrote an artistic manifesto entitled, “Metaphysical Synthesism” (1967), and was eventually exiled from the Soviet Union in 1971.
In 1971, Chemiakin settled in Paris where his unique imagery was already familiar to European collectors. It was in Paris that he produced his “Carnival at St. Petersburg” and his “Metaphysical Series,” which are among his most renowned periods, proving a mastery of color and form.
In 1981, Chemiakin moved to New York where he continued his work. He has also been working with film and theater set design, along with public sculpture.
