Mikhail Kurganov (b. 1999) is a visual artist & curator based in St. Petersburg. Co-founder and curator of Kletka Gallery.
In his artistic practice he investigates the relationship between culture and nature. The artist establishes a constant dialog between these two worlds, trying to find a means of representing reality in its own language. Attempting to seek this language he pays particular attention to issues of materiality and temporality of the artwork. While dysfunctional actions and objects become the key research methods. In his projects he uses a wide range of mediums — from painting and photography, to video and installation.
His work is held in the collections of Moscow Museum of Modern Art (MMOMA), Garage MCA, Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts (NCCA St. Petersburg) and others public and private collections.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2024 force majeure. Open Workshops, St. Petersburg
2023 Twilight of Speech. Kletka Gallery, St. Petersburg
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024 2nd Krasnenkaya Antibiennale, curated by Ekaterina Vasilyeva. St. Petersburg
2023 0_0_0_Zero_Zero. Kafedra Gallery, Herceg Novi, Montenegro
2023 Samizdal. Gogol Library, St. Petersburg
2023 Eternal Return, curated by Ekaterina Vasilyeva. Wall-online
2023 The Borders. Particles Art Project, online
2023 New Building. Ruin. Garden. Museum of Urban Sculpture, St. Petersburg
2023 Art to Life. Palaty x White Lines Gallery, St. Petersburg
2023 ZIN-DAY. PhotoSynthesis Community, Voronezh
2023 U-turn. House of the Architect, Voronezh
2023 2nd Krasnenkaya Biennale, curated by Ekaterina Vasilyeva. St. Petersburg
2023 ZIN-ZIN. Simple Informality, artservatory, Khabarovsk
2023 Simple Exhibition, curated by Ekaterina Vasilyeva. Wall-online
2023 Trikotazhka ZINE Fest. Trikotazhka Place, Sergiev Posad
2023 My Name is Color. Color in the space of the city, curated by Daria Boldyreva. Library of Book Graphics, St. Petersburg
2022 Abstraction today: repetition and difference. Gogol Library, St. Petersburg
2022 How Flowers Grow. Center for Contemporary Culture “Golosova, 20”, Togliatti
2022 Krasnenkaya Antibiennale, curated by Ekaterina Vasilyeva. St. Petersburg
2021 Dacha as I see it. Bogorodskoye Gallery, Moscow
2021 OpenCall Exhibition. New Sincerity gallery, Moscow
RESIDENCES & WORKSHOPS
2023 — 2024 Narvskaya Zastava. Fixation — fiction: photographs, interventions, maps, curated by Ekaterina Vasilyeva with the support of the GES-2 House of Culture, St. Petersburg
2023 Dramaturgy of the suburbs, curated by Olga Cammari and Olesya Kazakova, St. Petersburg
2023 My name is color. Color in the space of the city, curated by Darya Boldyreva. North-West branch of The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts (NCCA St. Petersburg), St. Petersburg
2023 Kudykina Gora: a place where miracles happen. Buksir Gallery, Lipetsk — short-list
COLLECTIONS
Moscow Museum of Modern Art (MMOMA)
Garage Museum of Contemporary Art
Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts (NCCA St. Petersburg)
Manege Central Exhibition Hall, St. Petersburg
Library of Book Graphics, St. Petersburg
Gogol Library, St. Petersburg
Library of PhotoSynthesis Community, Voronezh
Alan Nekhay Foundation, Turkey
Private Collections
COLLABORATIONS
2023 White Lines Gallery x Forced Fun Community
FAIRS
2024 Port Art Fair (PAF), St. Petersburg
CURATORIAL PRACTICE
2024 Meeting with others. Dasha Surma. Gogol Library, St. Petersburg
2024 Dinotopia. Ekaterina Kozlova. Gogol Library, St. Petersburg
2023 Day — like a river. Solo exhibition of Samaria Nurulova. Gogol Library, St. Petersburg
2023 Samizdal. Gogol Library, St. Petersburg
2023 New Building. Ruin. Garden. Museum of Urban Sculpture, St. Petersburg
2023 Topology of Suburbs. Gogol Library, St. Petersburg
2023 Closing My Eyes. Solo exhibition of Marta Zeich. Gogol Library, St. Petersburg
2023 Workshop and zine Okhta: Points of Attention, St. Petersburg
2023 City Rendezvous. Solo exhibition of Kirill Betekhtin. Gogol Library, St. Petersburg
2022 Abstraction Today: Repetition and Difference. Gogol Library, St. Petersburg
2022 Research assistant (internship). Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow
2021 Curator assistant and project manager (internship). Artwin Gallery, Moscow
PUBLIC TALKS
2023 Discussion about street art and public art with Alexander Muschenko, Kirill Reinholds, Alexey Barkhan and Stas Bugs. Gogol Library, St. Petersburg
2022 Dialogue about video art with Kirill Akulinichev. Gogol Library, St. Petersburg
EDUCATION
2024 — 2026 MA in Arts & Humanities, European University at Saint Petersburg, St. Petersburg
2018 — 2022 BA in Cultural Studies, Moscow State Art and Culture University, Moscow