Konstantin Bokov, Untitled (Monster, Better believe it), 1985

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Born in 1940 in Shostka, Ukraine, Konstantin Bokov immigrated to New York City in 1974.Born the son of Viktor Bokov, … Read more Born in 1940 in Shostka, Ukraine, Konstantin Bokov immigrated to New York City in 1974.Born the son of Viktor Bokov, the well known poet who perished in the Soviet gulag, Konstantin Bokov was an accordion player and sheep-herderbefore he became a self-taught artist and expelled dissident. When he appeared at the Morin-Miller Gallery in 1978 bearing a painting of a Tropicana juice carton, Carmen Morin brought it home. Jack Miller remembers his reaction: "We don't buy art, we sell it!" --- then their personal collection of Bokov's work grew to over a hundred pieces. Many paintings, sketches, collages and recycle assemblages were done, It's been said that Bokov’s canvases and recycled pieces offer an image of New York that is both a scathing critique and profession of love. This is especially evident in his pieces "Manhattan Madness (Road Repair)" and his Statue of Liberty series, here offering "Classic Lady Liberty". Bokov's impromptu work in public spaces has been the subject of an article in The New York Times. His current work was featured at a show in August at the Van der Plas Gallery on South Street in Manhattan. Bokov attended the Art Academy of Leningrad (St. Petersburg), where he studied music and was introduced to painting. After finishing school, he moved to Moscow, where he encountered Van Gogh’s Red Sunset, which ultimately inspired him to begin painting. Konstantin Bokov has appeared alongside Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring at the Now Gallery and in other shows including the Emerging Collectors Gallery, Morin Miller Gallery, the Grant Gallery, and the Monique Goldstrum Gallery. He showed at the 2008 European Outsider Art Fair in Vienna and the Outsider Art Fair in New York. Bokov is also the subject of an award winning independent documentary entitled, Free (2012) which follows his process from the discovery of raw trash through it’s transformation into art objects and then finally the placing of his new creations in public places for an unsuspecting to audience. Free has been screened and honored at numerous festivals around the globe. See less