Igor Kislitsin

Igor Kislitsin is a member of the Youth Section of the Union of Artists (1976) and joined the Union of Artists of Russia in 1998. He is associated with the circle of artists commonly referred to as the Second Russian Avant-Garde of the 1960s–70s, also known as the unofficial or “other” art movement. Between 1975 and 1978, Kislicin’s works featured in exhibitions in Austria, West Germany, and France as part of Alexander Glaeser’s collection. Glaeser, notable as the organiser of the “Bulldozer Exhibition” and founder of the Museum of Russian Art in Exile in Montgeron, showcased many artists from this movement. In addition to his painting practice, Kislicin devoted considerable time to icon restoration, meticulously uncovering and reapplying lost details as he sought to unlock the mysteries of iconography. In 1979, he became a pupil of Father Zinon (Theodore) and worked under his guidance in the bell tower of the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius, mastering the techniques of tempera painting and the structure of Russian sacred art. Continuing his dedication to restoration, from 1981 to 1985, he worked in the restoration workshops of the St. Danilov Monastery, including significant contributions to restoring an 18th-century Last Judgement icon of massive scale, located on the western wall of the Church of the Holy Fathers of the Seven Ecumenical Councils. Igor Kislitsin aligns himself with Orthodox Christianity, yet he consciously engages with other sacred and cultural paradigms. In conversations, he has frequently alluded to the “alchemy” inherent in the painting process, which he sees as embodying a “metaphysics of craft and material.” His works are held in numerous prestigious collections, including: Perm Art Gallery Udmurt Republican Museum Museum of Fine Arts, Izhevsk, Russia Pavlodar Art Museum, Kazakhstan State Art Museum of the Altai Territory, Barnaul Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation m’ars Gallery collection, Moscow The collections of Yakov and Tatiana Rubinstein, Leonid Talochkin, and Alexander Glaeser The Kostaki Collection His pieces are also found in private collections worldwide, including in Russia, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland, Hungary, Belgium, Greece, Austria, Finland, and beyond.