Noi Volkov

b. 1947 Agapovka, Russia

SELECTED COLLECTIONS

American University Museum, Washington, DC
Arizona State Museum, Tucson, AZ
Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, AR
COPIA: The American Center for Wine, Food & the Arts, Napa, CA
Cremona Foundation, Norton Dodge Collection, Mechanicsville, MD
Fine Arts Museum, San Francisco, CA
Liberty Museum, Philadelphia, PA
Museum of Contemporary Russian Art, Jersey City, NJ
National Museum of Ceramics, Baltimore, MD
National Museum of Ceramics, Kiev, Ukraine
Zimmerly Art Museum, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

2002-11   Hot Tea!, del Mano Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2008        Sculpture Objects & Functional Art Exposition, Chicago, IL
                Solo Exhibition, Goldesberry Gallery, Houston, TX
                Solo Exhibition, Habatat Galleries, Tysons Corner, VA
2007        Solo Exhibition, Goldesberry Gallery, Houston, TX
2006        New Teapots by Noi Volkov, Camino Real Gallery, Boca Raton, FL
                Solo Exhibition, R. Duan Reed Gallery, New York, NY
2004-06   Sculpture Objects & Functional Art Exposition, Chicago, IL
2003-06    Sculpture Objects & Functional Art Exposition, New York, NY
2005        Solo Exhibition, Jane Sauer Thirteen Moons Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
2004        Solo Exhibition, Camino Real Art Gallery, Boca Raton, FL
                Solo Exhibition, Thirteen Moons Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
2003        Solo Exhibition, Irving Gallery, Palm Beach, FL
2002        Solo Exhibition, John Elder Gallery, New York, NY
                Solo Exhibition, Irving Gallery, Palm Beach, FL
2001        Sculpture, Objects, Functional Art Exposition, New York, NY and Chicago, IL
                100 Teapots,Baltimore Clayworks, Baltimore, MD
1998        Winter Feast, Baltimore Clayworks, Baltimore, MD
1997        Group Show, Jewish Community Center of Baltimore, Baltimore, MD
1996        Solo Exhibition, Lyric Theater of Baltimore, MD
1995        Group Show, Morris Mechanic Theater, Baltimore, MD
1992        Nonconformist Art, 8 Russian Artists, Baltimore Convention Center, MD
                Solo Exhibition, Jewish Community Center, Rockville, MD
1993        Struggle for the Spirit, Group Show Zimmerly Art Museum, Rutgers University, New
                Brunswick, NJ
1991        Group Show, International Club, Washington, DC
1990        Group Show of Russian Artists, Jewish Community Center, Rockville, MD

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

2006       Decorative Arts. Miller, Judith. Dorling Kindersley Publications, London, England.
2004       500 Figures in Clay: Ceramic Artists Celebrate the Human Form. Lark Books,
                        Sterling Publications, New York, NY.
2001       The Artful Teapot. Clark, Garth. Watson-Guptill, New York, New York.
1998       A Dictionary of Twentieth Century Russian and Soviet Painters, 1900-80s. Bown,
                        Cullerne Matthew. Izomar, London, England.
1995       From Gulag to Glasnost. Dodge, Norton & Rosenfeld, Alla. Thames and Hudson,
                        London, England.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Noi Volkov was born in 1947 in Agapovka, Russia. He graduated from Odessa Grecov Art College in 1967 with a BA in Fine Art, and from Leningrad Mukchina College in 1973 with an MA in Fine Arts and Ceramics. He has been residing in Maryland since 1990.

ARTIST’S STATEMENT

My art is generally based on the classics of past generations. When I attended the Mukhina College in St. Petersburg, avidly visiting Hermitage Museum, I meticulously studied the works of old masters. My favorite artists include Vermeer, Rembrandt, and Leonardo da Vinci. I place classic characters into modern art scenes. It makes for interesting situations. Mixing opposites is a basis for my work. I put together opposite textures as well. Smooth and slick with jagged and rusty. It gives the work a certain feel.

The famous Russian avantgardist Kazimir Malevich, author of the "Black Square", indirectly stated the end to Figurative art by presenting absolutely white canvases. I decided to merge his ideas with the ideas of old masters. In the 1970’s, I decided to incorporate famous characters of classic art into my own contemporary pieces, placing these characters into a modern setting and surprising scene, for example the appearance of Christ Tobarshmiv.
Working in ceramics, I was able to employ various textures and dimensions, which perpetuated my quest to expand the limits of art by incorporating different styles, structures, and techniques. My philosophy is that you cannot understand art without entering a different world. When I paint, I enter a different world, where old becomes new and thus my work is created.