After graduate work presentation, the reviewer – art critic, curator, leader research assistant of Elaginoostrovsky Palace-Museum of Russian Decorative and Applied Arts, Elena Afanasievna Vlasova, invited me as a participant of The International Exhibition of Ceramics and Glass in landscape VI edition with «Algorithms of Jugendstil». The largest exhibition of ceramics and glass in Saint Petersburg is held outdoors near Palace Elagin. Ceramic artworks, sculptures, installations are traditionally presented at the lawn in front of the Palace.

This year I graduated with bachelor degree from Saint-Petersburg State University’s Faculty of Phylology e Arts, department «Decorative and applied arts». My specialization is ceramics, so I created a ceramic lamp (height 1 m 80 cm) as a degree work for Palace of Matilda Kshesinskaya – now there’s State Museum of Political History of Russia (Kuybysheva Street 2-4). My project called «Algorithms of Jugendstil», the contemporary art work I created have being guided by impressions while research German Jugendstil. My degree instructor was a remarkable artist, ceramist and our lecturer – Grigory Vladimirovich Molchanov. This work hardly had been done without his aid and wisdom! Thank you! The lamp itself I made on the basis of a ceramic factory «Pallada».

Illusration for "UNI" magazine, 2009

My illusration for book "Semiosphere: in the labyrinth of signs and forms" , 2009

One project changes the another. The same happened after «Home exhibition». I met outstanding girls from neighbor studio – organizers of the art union «Ouick Pics» (quick pictures). The most well-known action of this artists-group – is online-drawing. In coffee-room «Books and Coffee» get together about 20 artists, poets, musician and audience. One by one artists sit down at the table, they have 5 minutes for creating a few pictures. The process of the drawing shoots a video and this is shown on the screen. Creation of art works can be accompanied by poets or musicians. I was succeeded to take a part in this action.The situation when your drawing is observes by one hundred of people was interesting, but at first a little bit unused. Together with young artists there were more experienced and older representatives, for example painter Vladimir Zagorov, graphic artist Vasily Bertels. 

On the photo me (photographer: Alice Florizelle)

My artist-friend Eugene Poznyakov invited me to take part in exhibition in his studio. Theme was «Transport». About 20 art works were presented in two rooms of studio. Everything was very comfortable, home exhibition for friends. There were a few artists and I. I created triptych «Three stations» (on the photo). Three main periods of person’s life (birth, wedding and death) were shown through untypical situation – metro-car. Eugene Poznyakov – is interesting artist, successfully participates in exhibitions, draws graphic and painting. Now, he and some of his friends are going to open gallery in Saint-Petersburg.

And this is my business card. Design by Nikita Timoshenko. Thank you, Man!

In February 2009 I won scholarship in design school «Art-future». Generally studies there paid, but I receive a free place. This school exists just for five years, but it is to represent Russia in Milan's exhibition "iSaloni" this spring! There, by the way, will go my groupmate and friend Elvira Ziyangirova with her project. In this design school are three faculties – fashion-design, publicity-design and interior-design. I study the last one. Beside with profile disciplines I have painting. Lecturer is a remarkable artist – Vladimir Mikhailovich Smirnov. He calls himself grandson of Malevich and Filonov. He studied art by Vladimir Sterligov (student of Malevich) and Tatyana Glebova (student of Filonov). Filonov is one of my favorite artists, especially after reading his memoirs!

And this is my art work in entrance examination: theme «The golden strongroom» (collage).

9.11.2008–30.11.2008 – personal exhibition of graphics in Zoom-Gallery.

«These miniature graphics and small collages were created by a twenty-year-old-artist. He is going to graduate The faculty of philology and arts of «The Big» (Saint-Petersburg State) University in a specialty «Decorative and Applied Arts». The more amazing seems the matter and stylistics of his works. All, that’s taking place in Yaroslav Misonzhnikov’s wee, but detailed pictures, happens between people and, at first, is quite unlike the DAA’s usual embellishment and, secondly, shows a sudden mature, even guess extramature sophistication in a graphics tradition.
People watching television, growing beard, receiving messages, dragging sheeps, kids and suitcases and forcedly embarking some of every type. Biblical cues penetrate into the image’s space with inevitability of context advertisment – now a ram turns into a lamb, now a dressed-in-red-wife seems Rahil or Sarra. A man in metro, as Itshak, just has buoght primogeniture and everything following for a mess of pottage, becoming deep in universal thought aggainst the background of as if casual significant symbols. Quasi a logo of any cellular operator suddenly turns into the destiny-omen.
Yaroslav Misonzhnikov definitely enlightened about Shagal, Matiss and Picasso, but in his art-blood is more likely stirred in “leningrad” graphicists, especially Vladimir Lebedev with his cheeky ice-creamers and citizens-snowdrifts. And even his sketches for the installation he made as a participant in the youth exhibition “Homo Arcticus” on museum-icebreaker “Krassin” carry us back to the passeist’s lithography of Anna Ostroumova-Lebedeva.

Darya Agapova, columnist in «Time Out» magazine.

The participants of the exhibition «Homo Arcticus» were young artists from Russia and Belarus.
1. Maria Aprasidi – sculptor; art-object: ice-breaker, with bear-bodies – «Thanks by all, people!» (metal, gesso)
2. Sveta Gerasimova – textile-painter; art-object: armchair made of white jerricans (plastic).
3. Tatiana Gorshenkova - crafts-artist, agr object common with Daria Makarenko.
4. Daria Makarenko – Makarenko and Gorshenkova founded an art union «Mac&Go», their activity is painting, installation, successful participation in contests and exhibitions; their common art-object: refrigerator with painted-in-white product-waste simbolized extinct animals from Arctic – «Keep in cold» (metal, plastics )
5. Ivan Grohotkov – physicist, winner of physics grants, lecturer in Lyceum "Physical-Technical High School" (PTHS), photographer; art-object: swimming-pool, periodically flooded (plastics, glass)
6. Alexi Goubarev – our special guest, artist from Minsk (Belarus), now he lives in Czech Republic; art-object: «Birds fly to the North» – shades of birds on the upper deck (film, acrylic paint)
7. Veselina Kuznetsova –sculptur and art-manager; art-object was some kind of happening: visitors received an opportunity to take part in a simbolical process of arctic saving, they imprinted palms on the soft surface of clay-arctic body – "Arctic saving" (ceramics, clay, plaster) 
8. Yaroslav Misonzhnikov – that’s me; my artistic object was, besides the project I wrote about above, – «Add to Cart. Price: 10000000…». In the Cart from supermarket was Arctic map and everybody can bought it! (metal, cardboard)
9. Nikita Panin – artist, freelance illustrator in Art.Lebedev Studio; art-object: pictures of wanted white bears (digital paintings)
10. Inna Pozina – a mature artist, who exhibited some art-works in Russian Museum (Saint-Petersburg), does videoart, installations, art-objects;for the exhibition she created an installation with two white overalls streamed in the wind (textiles)
11. Nikita Silich – studies monumental painting; art-object: bath with unfrozen white bear (ceramics, plastics)
12. Nikita Timoshenko – a painter (the runner-up of the 3rd Showdown at Saatchi Online), and graphic designer; art-object: canvas with deconstructive graphic, which wrapped funnel of ice-breaker (textiles, acrylic) 
13. Marina Tsai – ceramist; art-object: cake, which simbolized Arctic and had being divided between countries (foam, acrylic)


Music: DJ Bagus (SPB)
Photographer: Alexandr Slonimsky

At 1-th July 2008 was exhibition «Homo Arcticus» on the ice-breaker «Krassin». We together with Veselina Kuznetsova decided to organize the exhibition and invite our friends, young artists, to take part in it. At first we thought about another place for exhibition – we admired to do that on the roof-terrace one house in center of city. But in the end the exibition took place on the icebreaker, and there were no regrets about this fact. «Krassin» is a wonderful place – museum and art-object itself with century history. Theme of exhibition was topical and proper for the place: economical, ecological, political problems of Arctic. Artists did installations and art-objects. «Creations, which are made to live a very short life, conceived with posters expressiveness on a challenge – answer. Challenge: endangered ice earth become an object of international trade. Answer: symbolic Arctic add in the Cart from supermarket. Challenge: for free from ice waterways scuffles countries and corporations. Answer: on the upper deck – delined part of the world, which is covered up with imprints of greedy palms. Challenge: very soon white bears will have no place to live. Answer: symbol of North Pole sprawl on the upper deck in touching and absurd pose, like it was floating of ice under him»(Liudmila Svetlova, Time Out Petersburg, 27.06-10.07.2008, №13). On this photo my installation – «Ruined Saint-Petersburg». There were 16 glass bottles, in which were ruined small ceramic buildings as an allegory of what will happen after a flood caused by globing warming.

After exhibition in WunderBar-Gallery we met two DJ-fellows: Anton Hild and El (Clear Emotions Promo Group). They invited us participate in their parties activity as designers and performansers in BubbleBar (Konjusennaja pl, 2). Me, Veselina Kuznetsova and Sveta Gerasimova did a few monumental graphic works using old soviet wall-papers with floral ornament. The main theme of the party was USA 60-th time (Retro). We drew two huge old cars (2,5*4 metres), African Americans dancers with like Angela Davis hairstyle, gramophone, hanged sheets with wheat drawn on it. Actually I did little to realize this progect from the beginning to the end … But all of us received great experience working with monumental size in visual art.

My next exhibition was in February 2008. It took place in a nice cafe-bar “WunderBar” (Saint-Petersburg, Dobrolubova st. 9). The title was “People’s between”. The visitors could see there some of my graphic works and collages. I made it jointly with Veselina Kuznetsova, my good friend, talented painter and sculptur. Since October 2007 we founded Art union “V_yamku” (that’s pun means: Veselina_yamKuznetsova or V_YaroslavMisonzhnikovku). We study art and work together, doing different design and organizing exhibitions (“People’s between”, “Homo Arcticus”). The first common project - fly-cards for the ecological contest “Have opinion”. And other you can see further…

That’s my artwork of summer 2007. Me and my university group did installations as a summer practice for “The International Contemporary Art Exhibition PLOT-4”. “Plot” – could be translated from russian as a “float-boat” or “raft”. Every two years that’s organized on a lakeside in Ozerki in Saint-Petersburg by The Art-union “Country of artists” (1995, 1998, 2002, 2007). That’s a brainchild of such artists as Alexandr Zadorin, Dmitriy Kaminker and Alexandr Pozin. Art works and installations usually placed on this rafts and launched into the lake or on the lakeside. The best way to observe it is boating. This year new “PLOT-5” is going to take place. My project is called “Gate to art fantasy”. I projected this installation with a well-known sculptor Oleg Zhogin. 14 cardboard boxes formed 3,5 m height arch. It brings you back to the childhood, when we used to collect some words and stamps. The arc was placed on the path.

Hello! my name is Yaroslav Misonzhnikov (Ярослав Мисонжников). I am studing art in Saint-Petersburg State University. Since 2007 I take part in different exhibitions. Like:

1. July 2007 participation in The International Contemporary Art Exhibition PLOT-4
2. February 2008 exhibition of graphics “People’s between” in WunderBar-Gallery
3. July 2008 organization and participation in The International Contemporary Art Exhibition “Homo Arcticus”
4. November 2008 personal exhibition of graphics in Zoom-Gallery
5. February 2009 Saint-Petersburg State University exhibition of decorative and applied arts, The Union of designers
   My art works are also at Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jariksen/
   My other photos You can see here http://www.flickr.com/photos/jariksen2
   My E-mail adress yaroslav.misonzhnikov@gmail.com