Valentin Korzhov

The sculptural practice of Valentin Korzhov can be summarized as absolute spatiality, heading towards a dynamic aesthetic of space. Under the influence of Heidegger’s phenomenology and its unusual notion of nothingness as the fundamental ground of existence, Korzhov places his sculptural interventions, uncanny narratives on material and self, in the ontological ground zero of the voids. Through the juxtaposition between the eerie sculptural compositions and the physical voids of barren fields and empty surfaces, emerges a third space of unrestrained spatiality. 

Korzhov was born in Moscow and received training in sculpture at the art academy, and began his professional career at the studio of master sculptor Victor Sidorenko. In his work, neoclassical depictions of the body merge with postmodern ideas about materiality, origin and relic, creating objects that are both present and yet simulacra of archaeological debris from unspecific, remote times, whether in the past or in the future. In multidisciplinary installations that manipulate spatiality as a medium, the artist engages in immersive experiences that draw not only from the resources of art but also of modern philosophy and science.

Temporality is dislocated in Korzhov’s work, reading the palimpsest of civilization as a complex tapestry of interwoven texts, images and archetypes, moving away from the historicism of sculpture towards a primeval site of mythography that encompasses the distant future as well. In his spatial constructions, different temporalities coalesce, opening new paths for interpreting the history of images, across text, theory, visual culture and sensorial perception. As a research-based practitioner, the artist is perennially engaged in conversations with thinkers from the past and present, re-telling in singular ways the discourse of contemporary culture.

Valentin Korzhov is a member of the sculpture section in the Moscow Artists’ Union, and he has held solo exhibitions in a number of institutions, including Ekaterina Cultural Foundation, State Darwin Museum, the 5th Moscow Biennial of Contemporary Art, the International Biennial of Contemporary Art in Tashkent and Media Center of Zaryadye park in Moscow. Gallery exhibitions include Vinzavod Center for Contemporary Art, Cube. Moscow and ArtCatch (Utrecht). Korzhov lives and works in Moscow. His work is regularly featured by the leading Russian media and can be found in a number of public and private collections.