Valera & Natasha Cherkashin

Valera & Natasha Cherkashin are two contemporary artists^[1] who have been working together as a duo since 1988.

Valera Cherkashin (born in Kharkov, Ukraine on August 23, 1948) and Natasha Cherkashin (born in Damascus, Syria on April 19, 1958) work with photography, create happenings, installations, and video art.

Biography

Valera’s creative career began in Kharkov.

2003 - Became a member of the Union of Photo Artists of Russia.

Since 1988, he has been working with his wife, the artist Natasha Cherkashin. In the early 1990s, they made some brilliant performances in the Moscow metro station "Revolutionary Square," such as “Underground Privatization” (Italian Super Channel), "Underground Subbotnik" (2 TV channel), "People's love of art for the people" and “Underground Wedding” (1 TV channel). In 1992 they established a conceptual “Cherkashin Metropolitan Museum”. (CNN, USA). Since 1994, the Cherkashins traveled a lot and created a number of international projects: “German Atlantis” at Olympia stadium in Berlin, (1996) covered by TV channel Deutsche Welle; "Goodbye Favorite European Portraits: hello euro" in the Swimming pool of the World Bank Headquarters in Washington DC (1999). Since 2005, the Cherkashins have been working on a major international project “Global Underground” which will include art works about metros of 33 countries.

Collections

• The Art Institute of Chicago; (1994, 1998), USA.
• The Museum of Fine Art Santa Fe, NM, USA.
• The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, CA, USA.
• Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (2003, 2005),MA, USA.
• Philadelphia Museum of Art, PA, USA.
• Houston Museum of Fine Arts(1998, 2005),TX, USA.
• San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, CA, USA.
• Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis,MN, USA.
• The Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers University, NJ, USA.
• Newseum, Washington, DC, USA.
• The Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, University of Texas, Austin, USA.
• The US Library of Congress, DC, USA.
• The New York Public Library, NY, USA.
• The World Bank Headquarters, Washington DC, USA.
• Museum am Checkpoint Charlie, Berlin, Germany.
• International Center of Photography, Tokyo, Japan.
• Motorola Company, Moscow.
• Foundation of Culture of Russia.
• Kolodzei Art Foundation, NJ.
• Museum of Contemporary Art, Rostov-na-Don.

Select personal exhibitions

• 1998 - Empires: Russia Past & Present. Together with Steve Yates and Bill Wright. The Center for Contemporary Arts, Abilene, TX.
• 1999 - Goodbye Favorite European Portraits: hello Euro. World Bank Headquarters Atrium Pool, Washington.
• 2000 - From USSR to Russia. International Center of Photography, Shadai Gallery, Tokyo, Japan.
  • Mirages of Empires. PhotoEspana 2000, Caja Madrid, Madrid, Spain. (Catalog)
• 2001 - Mirages of Empire. Russian American Cultural Center, New York.
• 2002 - Mirages of Empires. The State Russian Museum. St. Petersburg. (Catalog)
• 2005 - XV International Festival "Month of Photography in Bratislava", Slovakia.
  • Futurism & Nostalgia. Great Neck Arts Center, New York, USA
  • New York Real and Unreal. Union of Photo Artists, Moscow.
• 2006 - Night with a Pioneer Leader, Glaz Gallery, Moscow House of Photography, Moscow.
• 2007 - Metro New York--Moscow. Harriman Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY.
  • The End of the Epoch. Project Museum of the USSR. Andrey Sakharov Museum & Public Center. Moscow. (Catalog)
• 2008 - Jubilee exhibition. Union of Photo Artists. Moscow.
  • New York. Premonition. Museum of Modern Art, Rostov on Don, Russia. (Catalog)
  • Metro in art and Art in Metro. Exhibition in Moscow Museum of Modern Art. (Catalog)
  • Global Underground. Gallery Blue Square, Paris.
  • Global Underground. Kennan Institute, Woodrow Wilson Center. Washington DC.
• 2009 - Exhibition in Barbarian-Art Gallery, Zurich (Catalog)
  • Moscow - Bilbao. Transfer. Center for Contemporary art Winzavod and Moscow Museum of Modern Art. Together with Ima Montoya. Moscow (Catalog)

References

1. Andre, Mila (15 December 2002). "Money Matters In Art Exhibit At Bank". Daily News. Retrieved 26 June 2011.

External links

Personal web site www.metro33.org

• Blue Square Gallery
• Barbarian Art Gallery
• Art Net