Andrey Bartenev is an artist, sculptor, fashion designer, whose works are on display at the best foreign galleries.
Biography of Andrei Bartenev
The artist, sculptor, fashion designer Andrei Bartenev was born in Norilsk back in 1969. The boy’s childhood passed in a communal apartment. Andrei himself recalls while being hungry and cold. And he calls his pets his main inspiration of those times.
Bartenev received his education at the Institute of Culture of Krasnodar. After graduation, he leaves for Sochi, where he becomes a successful artist, creator of exhibitions and performances.
In the 90s, Andrei flew to Moscow by plane from Adler. He was met by Sergey Gagarin, director of the Bravo Group. He not only introduced Andrei to his friends, but also told how to live in Moscow. Gagarin advised Bartenev to dress more extravagantly. Andrei quickly realized what his Sochi charm lacked. Adding a little flea market, he easily fit into the circle of Moscow bohemia. First of all, Andrei went with his graphic works to Malaya Gruzinskaya, where at that time the Committee of Exhibitions was located. He was immediately accepted there, and he met such people as German Vinogradov, Petliura, and many other talented artists of that time. Their first group exhibition was also held there. On the advice of his new friends, Bartenev went to the Mars Gallery, where it all began.
The work of Andrei Bartenev
The first major project of Andrei at that time was "Rampage on Mount Ana-Dyr to the singing of Nikita fish", as part of which he oversaw an exhibition of Sochi and Moscow artists. Bartenev himself danced on that project to the sound of music with a feather from a Sochi peacock. Then in the early 90s, all the newspapers wrote about Bartenev.
Bartenev’s triumph in Europe began in 1993. There Andrei with his Botanical Ballet gets into the report of Stern magazine. Andrei’s full-page photograph, where he is completely buttoned in the subway with a glass flower and Andrew Logan’s brooches, has spread all over the world. There was a call from the wife of Yuri Vizbor, who informed Andrei that he was invited to a festival in Frankfurt. Bartenev later traveled non-stop to all European cities, and in 1995 ended up in London, where he lived for the next 10 years.
In the 2000s, Bartenev left large museums and galleries, and performance became his priority. His work in this genre went around all the leading sites in the world.
The Botanical Ballet is one of Bartenev’s most famous performances, with which he received the Grand Prix in 1992 in Jurmala at the “Assembly of Unbridled Fashion”. He imitates a children's game "sculpt from the snow" with cardboard and papier march.
Another equally well-known work of the master is the production of “The Snow Queen”. This bizarre performance of incredible fantasticness uses colorful moving sculptures and objects. To the foreign public this work reminded Kandinsky.
Another sensational performance Bartenev called "I love you!". Viewers pronounce these three words, which then, with the help of a long series of huge speakers located along a winding line, return to him himself.
