Le origini dell arte di mikhail koulakov e le icone russe intervista a paolo cicchini
Life
Born in Moscow on 8 January 1933, Koulakov majored in stage design, studying with the painter and director Nikolai Akimov, at the Institute of Theatre Arts in Leningrad. He worked as a graphic designer for the publishing company Lenizdat, illustrating the work of his friends, the poets V. Sosnora, G. Gorbovsky, S. Davydov, and the short stories and tales of Alexander Grin among others. Koulakov worked for theatres in Volchov, Leningrad and Moscow. In 1967 he designed the stage set for Vladimir Mayakovsky's play ″The Bathhouse″ at the Moscow Theater of Satire. Koulakov resided in Italy from 1976 until his death in 2015 and worked in his studio in San Vito (Narni), Umbria. In 1993 he was elected a senior academician of the Fine Arts Academy “Pietro Vannucci”, Perugia.
Koulakov died on 15 February 2015, aged 82.
Art
Koulakov was a representative of the Soviet avant-garde of the 1960s and one of the founders of the "Second Abstraction" in Russia; he graduated in set design under Nikolai Akimov, an artist and the director, at the Leningrad’s Institute for Theatrical Arts in 1962, and started his career in Moscow and Leningrad where his works were displayed in alternative spaces to the prevailing socialist realism.
Martial arts
Mikhail Koulakov was a Tai Chi Chuan 7th Dan master, in 1990 he published the book "Thai Chi Chuan, il Grande Limite".
Exhibitions
Anthological exhibitions
His anthological exhibitions include:
1988: Auditorium of San Domenico (Narni)
1989: The Soviet Union Foundation of Culture, ex-riding school of the Czars in Leningrad and Riga Arsenal
1991: Architectural complex “San Michele a Ripa” in Rome
1993: Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow, State Ethnographic Museum, St. Petersburg, and Palazzo Ruspoli in Rome
Some of the collective exhibitions he has taken part:
1977: “Salon d'Art Sacre” in Paris
1977: “X Quadriennale” in Rome
1977: Venice Biennial “La nuova arte sovietica. Una prospettiva non ufficiale”
1979: “20 Jahre unabhaengiger Kunst aus der Sovjetunion”, Museum Bochum, Bochumkunstsammlung, Bochum
1994: “IV Biennale di Arte Sacra”, San Gabriele, Teramo
1995: “From Gulag to glasnost” Norton and Nancy Dodge Collection, Jane Vorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers, USA
1996: “Non konformisty-Seconda avanguardia russa”, Collezione Bar-Ger: The Russian State Museum, St. Petersburg - State Tretjakov Gallery, Moscow - Staedel Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt am Main - Kunsthaus, Leverkusen
1997: Josef Albers Museum, Quadrat Bottrop; “Arte Metro Roma” project, mosaic at Anagnina Metro Station, Rome
1998: “Anatomia Sovremennogo iskusstva” St. Petersburg
1999: “Die Suche nach der Freiheit. Moskauer Kuenstler der 50er und 70er Jahre”, Berlin-Hamburg; “Un colore in più”, Spazio Krizia, Milan
2000: “Un angelo per la città”, Rocca Paolina, Perugia
2001: “Abstrakzia v Rossii”, Russian State Museum, St. Petersburg
2003: “Moskovskaja abstrakzia, 2. polovina XX veka”, State Tretjakov Gallery, Moscow.
Personal Exhibitions
1964: House of Culture, Akademgorodok Novosibirsk
1966: Theatre of Satire, Moscow
1967: Institute of Physics, Moscow
1968: Institute of Physics, Erevan
1968: Institute of Physics and Chemics, Moscow
1969: House of Scientists Dubna, Moscow
1975: Libreria Internazionale Paesi Nuovi, Roma
1977: Galleria Trifalco, Roma
1977: International Institute, Minneapolis
1977: Banach Gallery, New York
1978: Galleria Trifalco, Roma
1979: Galerie Slavia, Bremen
1980: Galleria Cecchini, Perugia
1980: Cooperatriva Esperienze Culturali, Bari
1980: Galleria San Carlo, Napoli
1981: Galerie Basilisk, Wien
1984: Galleria Cortina, Milano
1985: Palazzo dei Priori, Perugia
1986: Galerie Schrepfer, München
1988: Galleria Trifalco, Roma
1988: Auditorium San Domenico, Narni
1989: Galerie Art East Art West, Hamburg
1989: Mugnano di Perugia
1989: Gallery of Soviet Culture Fund, Moscow
1990: Arsenal, Riga
1990: Manege, Leningrad
1990: Savitski Gallery, Pensa
1990: Galleria La Gradiva, Roma
1990: Galleria Il Bucchero, Ortebello
1991: Galleria Forzani, Terni
1991: Dostojevski Museum, Leningrad
1991: Yurjevski Monastery, Novgorod
1991: S. Michele a Ripa, Roma
1992: G. Braun Medienhaus, Karlsruhe
1992: Galerie Art Modern International, Aachen
1992: Galerie Kunst in der Scheune, Offenbach
1992: Castello Trecentesco, Celano
1993: Pushkin Museum, Moscow
1993: Palazzo Ruspoli, Roma
1993: Russian Ethnographic Museum, St. Petersburg
1993: Palazzo Petrignani, Amelia
1993: Galerie Weber, Berlin
1996: Bibliomediateca, Terni
1999: Spazio Arte, Perugia
1999: Banca d'Italia, Roma
2003: "Celare il cielo", Galleria Giulia, Roma
2003: "Genesi", Rocca Paolina, Perugia
2003: "Radici e Globalizzazione. Omaggio a Mikhail Koulakov", Palazzo Santoro Colella, Pratola Peligna
2005: "Verso l'autunno", l'Indicatore, Roma
2007: "Put geroia", Galereia Albom, Sankt Peterburg
2007: "Besoblachnoe vremia - Tempo senza nubi", Fond Era, Moskva
2008: "Il Sole, la Luna, l'Universo", Circolo Culturale l'Officina, Perugia
2008: Galleria Arte Contemporanea Sante Moretto, Vicenza
2008: "Potop mlechnyh putei. Diluvio delle vie lattee", State Tretyakov Gallery, Moskva
2008: "Fiori celesti", Palazzo Venezia, Roma
2011: "Signs of Spirituality", Galleria Nazionale di Arte Moderna GNAM, Roma
2011: H.C. Andersen Museum, Rome
2013: "80 anni tra Russia e Italia", Centro Russo di Scienze e Cultura, Roma
2015: "Mikhail Koulakov: Umbria seconda patria", Palazzo Vecchio, Sangemini