Yuri Albert (Yury Feliksovich Albert, born 16 October 1959 in Moscow) is a Russian painter and visual artist associated with the Moscow Conceptualists. His practice includes paintings and objects that engage with the language and history of art. He received the Kandinsky Prize in 2011.
Key facts
- Born: 1959-10-16
- Place of birth: Moscow
- Citizenship: Soviet Union; Russia
- Occupation: painter; visual artist
- Movement: Moscow Conceptualists
- Educated at: Moscow Pedagogical State University
- Award received: Kandinsky Prize
How did Albert’s career develop?
Albert studied with Ekaterina Arnold from 1974 to 1977 and attended the art and graphic faculty of the Moscow State Pedagogical Institute. In 1983 he joined the Graphic Artists’ Committee at 28 Malaya Gruzinskaya. He was a founding member of the Club of Avant-Gardists (KLAVA), established in 1987.
In 1990 Albert moved to Cologne, Germany. He lives and works there and often visits Moscow. His biography connects the Moscow art scene with a later life and practice in Germany.
What characterises his art?
Albert is identified with the Moscow Conceptualists, a circle whose art makes ideas, language and the interpretation of art central to the work. In Albert’s case, the subject can be art itself: his paintings and objects take up questions of artistic authorship, reference and how one work relates to others.
An early example is I Am Not Jasper Johns (1981). Albert adopted a manner associated with Johns while using a title that declares a distinction from him. The work brings imitation and denial into the same gesture, making the act of reference part of its meaning.
Albert has described his work as concerned with potentially conceptual works of art. His account of art history emphasises connections between works—traditions, analogies and influences—rather than treating each work as isolated. This approach helps explain the self-reflexive quality of his practice: a painting or object can point outward to the wider network of art around it.
Which projects and exhibitions are notable?
At the third Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art in 2009, Albert presented Moscow Poll and Prize for the Moscow Biennale. The latter functioned both as an artwork and as an actual prize: the biennale administration undertook to pay the winner’s funeral expenses if the recipient died before the next biennale.
Albert received the Kandinsky Prize in 2011 in the Project of the Year category. His exhibitions include a 2013 retrospective at the Moscow Museum of Modern Art, as well as Blindfolded Self-Portraits at Paperworks Gallery in 2011 and Painting, Sculpture, Graphics at Stella Art Foundation in 2008.
Where are Albert’s works held?
Works by Albert are represented in public and private collections in Russia and internationally, including:
- The State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, and the State Russian Museum, St Petersburg.
- The State Centre for Contemporary Art and Stella Art Foundation, Moscow.
- Ludwig Forum for International Art, Aachen, and Ludwig Museum and Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest.
- Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki, and Graphische Sammlung, Munich.
- The Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers University, New Jersey, and Duke University Museum of Art, Durham, North Carolina.
- Bakhchisaray Museum and the collection of Anton Kozlov, Moscow.
Frequently asked questions
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An independent reference profile prepared by intart.org from public biographical records. intart.org is not affiliated with the artist, their estate or their galleries.
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