Gallery
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Julian Assange -
Elvis Presley -
Porcelain Service by VitaliV -
Fashion by VitaliV
VitaliV (or Vitali V, real name Vitali Vinogradov)[1] is a contemporary British artist, sharing his time between the UK and Italy studios. He creates abstract art inspired by patterns in microchips.[2] He initially referred to his artistic style based on microchips[3] computer design as "digital art" but the term seemed too generic, and the artist soon decided in favour of "schematism" (like "vorticism" or "suprematism") – the term he invented himself to represent his signature style. Some of his works have been laser-cut in relief and then hand-painted as 3D objects.[3]
Vitali was born in Odessa (in Ukraine, U.S.S.R.) in 1957. He studied engineering and classical painting. VitaliV received his first degree (engineering) from the Odessa Maritime College. Thereafter, he was deployed to different locations in the Russian Arctic and Siberia for 6 years.
In 1979 Vitali moved to St. Petersburg (then Leningrad) and in 1983 he enrolled at the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts,[3] first, as a part-time and subsequently, as a full-time student in the sculpture department.
In 1989 he won a scholarship at the Norwich University College of the Arts in the UK as an exchange student. In 1989 he lived in the legendary St. Petersburg underground art squat Мансарды "Аптека Пеля". From 1991 onwards Vitali has resided in London. He currently commutes between his London and Italian studios. In his earlier years in the UK he supported himself by organising a photocopiers retail business with Russia. He later founded the TV3 [4][circular reference] network.[1]
In 1993 Vitali established an Art Community which became known as "Bank", as it was based in the former Barclays Bank building in Hoxton.[5] It was a pioneering multimedia arts centre where he held series of OMSK short film festivals, organised conceptual art exhibitions, sculpture shows (including monumental sculptures), video installations and displayed works produced in new, digital, media formats.
Vitali moved to the UK in 1989. On completing his degree at the Norwich University College of the Arts and after a number of successful painting and sculpture shows, he led a community of artists and film connoisseurs in Hoxton and other parts of London. While living in London and studying contemporary art, VitaliV also found and developed his signature style, known as "schematism". The essence of his style are simple geometrical patterns—circles and lines connected at 45° angles. According to the artist, "in the mid-1990s I was living and working in London. These were the years before the Internet took over. I was thinking about how exciting it would be to create a cyberspace museum, both as an artist and as a businessman. If I didn’t do it, someone else might, and then I would miss this chance of a lifetime!" While still thinking on it, I opened up a computer and became suddenly fascinated with its motherboard. I immediately loved the look of it: it was complicated and fantastical with a green or red base and lots of golden lines. It was a piece of art in its own right; I like the aesthetics and the logic, so I thought about starting to make art based on this".[6] In 1993 VitaliV established his Cyberspace museum on BBS, Bank, Hoxton, in London. Since 2007 Vitali has been sharing his time between his UK and Italian studios. He confesses: "I have always dreamt of living as artist in Italy. Italy gives a lot to an artist: culture, history, nature. I can’t think of another country that would give me so much". In 2008 VitaliV ran a joint project Digital Butterfly with artist Pino Signoretto in Murano, Venice.
Eventually, Vitali ventured into design and decorative arts, applying the principles of "schematism" in various fields and experimenting with tableware, porcelain, designer fashion clothes, accessories and furniture, as well as jewellery. Among his recent projects is the Jewellery collection for ZBird (China). He also released his fashion collections and launched them during French Fashion week in 2008 (Zone, the Louvre, Paris, France) and London Fashion Week in 2009. According to ArtRabbit, "his practice is both eccentric and technologically innovative, consisting of a range of lightboxes, CNC laser-cut reliefs, aluminium and acrylic resins and a 3D film".[2]
Select Exhibitions, Shows and Projects include:
