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SAINT PETERSBURG | STATES OF BEING • ALEXANDER NIKOLENKO • 2016-2017

STATES OF BEING

The message of the exhibition is dedicated both to the people of the present and
the future, to those who are genuinely concerned about the unfolding drama of the
machine world treading on human values, basic principles and subtle meanings. The
Modern man, immersed in the ocean of information, disregards the meaning and
significance of basic human values. The raised problem of devaluation and deterioration
of human values finds its solution in an attempt to present the world as fully as possible
and in a conceptually-rich way in meanings, emotions and attitudes, that a person can
experience, and, at the same time, lose in a foreseeable future. The author models the
dynamics of modern communications and comes to a conclusion, that, in the future,
a person will spend much less effort in order to convey his emotions and meanings.

Artworks presented at the exhibition raises both fundamental questions
of existence and also has a personal, spiritual appeal. If the work series «State
of Being» represents a futuristic drama of digital incursion on everything
human, the series «Labyrinths» represents a number of abstract architectural
experiences, where the author focuses the viewer’s attention on what is
happening at the moment- the changing spatial and social environment.

The overall narrative is completed with the exhibition of works that address
the profound archetypes of mass consciousness. The complicated, detailed graphic work encourages the meditative
immersion into the rhythm of primary characters and calls for the release of the overloaded consciousness of the modern
man. Man of the XXI century is the human of the hyper information age. All parts and elements of the exhibition form a
subtle feeling of being and constitute an authentic reconstruction of the foundations of the communication of the future.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Alexander Nikolenko was born in 1966 in Liepaja, Latvia. He began drawing from an early childhood. As
a child he showed avid interest in the topics of brain and its many mysteries, thinking process and perception.

In 1989 Alexander Nikolenko graduated from State Medical University named after I.I. Mechnikov and
began his academic career at the Institute of Experimental Medicine in a Human Neurophysiology laboratory,
which at the time was headed by Natalia Petrovna Bekhtereva. The aura of the place, where the academic Ivan
Pavlov made his discoveries, had a great influence on the attitudes of young scientist and artist. Alexander
continued to stay on the path of science at the Institute of the human brain of Russian Academy of Sciences.
The intricate cobweb of science and beauty became the main theme for Alexander’s creative
process. The artist devoted all the free time to drawing, calligraphy, and computer graphics. Moreover, his
formation as an artist happened under the influence of the 90s creative underground culture in St.Petersburg.
In 1993 Alexander left an academic career and devoted himself entirely to art, working on illustrating
magazines, producing comics, the first paintings and digital works. In 1999 he headed the Division of the Newest
Technologies of the State Russian Museum and brought to life the project «Virtual world of the Russian Museum».
Presentation of the project was successfully held in Paris, London, Berlin, Nice, Milan, Vienna and other cities in Europe and Russia.
In 2002, Alexander created interactive virtual tours at the Mikhailovsky (Engineers’) Castle, whose
first spectators were such well-recognized people as the Deputy Chief of the Presidential Executive Office
and Presidential Press Secretary, the Minister for Science and Industry and other well-renowned guests.
In 2008 the artist developed media and virtual projects in the Pavlovsk State Museum-Reserve as the
Deputy Director for Development and Information Technologies. Having accumulated the experience in science,
medical practice and digital media projects, Alexander has found his own style in graphic works and painting.

From 2010 Alexander Nikolenco is a member of the Creative Union of Artists in Russia (St. Petersburg).
The artist actively participates in the exhibition activities, both in Russia and in the Baltic countries, Scandinavia,
Southern Europe and the United States. Many of Alexander’s artworks are located in museums, galleries and private
collections.
Alexander Nikolenko lives and works in Saint Petersburg.

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