Alexander Melamid (1945)

Alex Melamid was born in Moscow in 1945. He is formerly known as 'Komar and Melamid’ for his affiliation with Vitaly Komar that lasted for 36 years from 1967 until 2003. Alex Melamid studied at the Moscow Art School from 1958 until 1960 and in 1967 graduated from Moscow’s Stroganov Institute of Art and Design with Master of Fine Arts degree. In 1972 Alex Melamid founded Sots Art (Соц Art) movement, a unique version of Soviet Pop and Conceptual Art. In 1977 Melamid emigrated to Israel and a year later, in 1978 – to New York. Komar and Melamid became internationally known. The artists participated in many major international art exhibitions and biennales, including Documenta, Kassel, Germany. Their works were acquired by a number of major museum and public collections. From 2003, upon breaking up with his counterpart, Alex Melamid painted a series of meticulously realistic, large size portraits of rappers, clergymen, Russian oligarchs and New York Rabbis. The artist explains that his new series, which will have about 100 portraits when completed, is inspired by his childhood dream of “unlimited” painting. Recently Alex Melamid has started a series of conceptual works called Neo-Senilism. In 2008 the artist declared that he is God. After extensive, one year long exercise, Alex Melamid has published a website www.melamid.com that covers 40 years
of artist’s work. Alex Melamid lives and works in New York..