Mikhail Nikolayevich Odnoralov / Levidov (
Russian: Михаи́л Никола́евич Однора́лов / Леви́дов / Michael Odnoralov, 10 November 1944 – 22 January 2016) was a
Russian nonconformist artist who was well known in Moscow in the 1970s. He spent the second half of his life in New York City.
Biography
In 1957, Odnoralov received early art lessons at
Robert Falk's private studio, and from 1958 to 1960, he attended art school in Krasnaya Presnya, Moscow.
Odnoralov took part in the second Russian avant-garde movement. However, he was also a member of the
USSR Union of Artists and showed his paintings at official exhibitions. From 1966 to 1979, his paintings were frequently exhibited at the
Union of Moscow Artists.
His art studio was sometimes a gathering site for
underground artists to plan their next collective show or to discuss one another's work,[1] and he was briefly detained for his role in the
Bulldozer Exhibition in 1974. A couple weeks after his release, his paintings were displayed before crowds[2] in
Izmaylovsky Park.[3]
The Soviet regime was suspicious of Odnoralov not mainly for the content of his paintings (although the
Communist authorities did not like the icons depicted in his works, which clearly reflected
Russian religious philosophy[4]), but for his uncensored social activity.[5] The
KGB urged his neighbors to file complaints claiming that the guests at his studio disturbed them.
In 1980, Odnoralov emigrated from the USSR. He lived and worked on the
Lower East Side of
Manhattan. He died on 22 January 2016 in New York City.[6][7]
^«Second Fall Outdoor Art Show», named «Russian Woodstock» for brave step to freedom (see the
«TIME»; Monday, Oct. 14, 1974, Vol. 104, Issue 16, p. 76).
^In a recent lecture in front of an American audience Mikhail Odnoralov recalls how impressed him (and even inspired to study
Pavel Florensky philosophic works) performances of outstanding pianist
Maria Yudina, which Odnoralov lucky was perceived.
VIDEO, 11 min. on
YouTube
^«Другое искусство: Москва 1956—1976». Vol 1-2, Moscow, 1991, vol. I — p. 235: photo of Mikhail and his friends Painting exposition in Odnoralov's art studio.
^«The New Times» № 9, 2014 March, 24.Lev Rubinstein: "Art those years was a zone of aesthetic and social resistance. After the «Bulldozer Exhibition» 1974, followed outdoor and apartment shows were gathered huge crowds." (in russian)
^Interview apropos Mikhail Odnoralov «Retrospection»: Author the same and
Alexander Borovsky [
ru] (Head of the «Newest movements» department of the State Russian Museum, Saint Petersburg).
VIDEO, in russian.