Anton Kuznetsov

Anton Kuznetsov was born and grew up in Kazan. He is a painter, graphic artist and maker of installations. He trained at the Surikov Moscow State Academic Art Institute, and went on to the Institute of Problems of Contemporary Art and the Free Workshops at MMOMA. He has been a member of the Moscow Union of Artists since 2003 and is listed among the Top 100 recognised Russian artists by InArt.

Critics often place his work close to the German painting of the early 2000s, and in particular to the Leipzig School and Neo Rauch. Kuznetsov works on the tension between artistic realism and actuality: he blends surrealist distortions with everyday sketches, lomographic effects, odd situations and objects that seem suspended in time. His compositions take in military chronicles and insects, and at times he invents whole worlds — while keeping anatomical precision and honouring the traditions of figurative painting.

He took part in the Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art in 2011, 2013 and 2015, and in the art fairs Art Vilnius, Art Moscow and Cosmoscow. He was nominated for the Kuryokhin Prize in 2015 and for the Moscow Art Prize in 2021, and held a residency at the MuseumsQuartier in Vienna in 2021.

His solo exhibitions have been shown at the Moscow Museum of Modern Art, in the exhibition halls of the State A. S. Pushkin Museum in Moscow, and at the galleries Triumph (Moscow), MGM (Moscow) and Ex Marmi (Pietrasanta, Italy).

Kuznetsov's work is known for its metaphorical depth and for a hypnotic mix of the real and the surreal. He lives and works in Moscow. His paintings are held in museums and private collections around the world, including the Museum of Russian Art (TMORA) in the USA and the Kaluga State Art Museum.