Artist's Bio

Vitaly Komar and Alex Melamid

Vitaly Komar was born in 1943 and Alexander Melamid in 1945, both in Moscow.
They started their collaborative work in 1965.
In 1977 they immigrated to Israel, from where they moved to the United States in 1978.
They ended their 4-decade collaboration in 2005.
Vitaly Komar lives and work in New York, and Alexander Melamid moved to Rome in 2006.
In the 1970s, Komar and Melamid initiated a new movement in the Soviet non-official art, called Sots-Ar, an ironic combination of Social Realism, the only official art style under the communist regime in the Soviet Union, and American Pop Art. They were major figures in organizing famous Buldozer exhibition in Moscow in 1974.
After moving to the United States, they became one of world’s major post-modern artists. They are included in the 100 Best Artists of the XX Century (Editions Hazan, 1998).
Komar and Melamid participated in such major world art events as the Venice Biennial (several times), Documenta (Kassel), and Sydney Biennial. Their paintings were sold at Sotheby’s.
Komar and Melamid’s names can be found in practically all major books and histories of 20th century and contemporary art. Articles about the artists have appeared numerous times in the New York Times, New York Times Magazine, New Yorker, The Washington Post, London Times, Der Spiegel, Moscow Times, Art in American, Flash Art, and Art News, among other newspaper and magazines throughout the world.