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

2002-08   Hot Tea!, del Mano Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
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

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Noi Volkov was born in 1947 in Agapovka, Russia. He graduated from Odessa Grecov Art College in 1967 with a B.A. 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

I include the works of old masters in my own pieces. Attending the Mukhina College in St. Petersburg, I grew up on the influence of old masters and their work, and that is reflected in my work. My favorite artists include Vermeer, Rembrandt and Leonardo da Vinci.

I place classic characters into modern art scenes. It makes for interesting situations. For example, "Connection", a work of mine, depicts a conversation between the Mona Lisa and Hollywood stars. Mixing opposites is a basis for my work. For example, Mona Lisa's gentle smile with the roughness of hard nails. I put together opposite textures as well. Smooth and slick with jagged and rusty. It gives the work a certain feel.

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.