Lot 155: f - Alexander Yakut , b.1955 Uzbekistan, midnight. Sleeping Donkey oil on canvas

oil on canvas

120 by 180cm., 47 by 70 3/4 in.

Moscow, Triumph Gallery, Alexander Yakut: Dead Season, 2007

Exhibition Catalogue Dead Season, Moscow: 2007, pp.40-41

Executed in 2006.

On graduating from the Surikov Art Institute, Moscow, Alexander Yakut saw the need for an independent art forum to counteract the disrespect for fine art which had developed in the early 90's. "I knew I had no other choice than either to follow others' rules and become a cog in a machine or take responsibility and, provide a platform for artists to develop freely and independently", In 1989, along with Aidan Salakhova and Evgeny Mitta, he opened The First Gallery, Russia's first private gallery and the following year, took part in the Venice Biennale, both as an artist and a curator. In 1993 he opened the Yakut Gallery, and, in addition to his work as an art dealer, curator and artist, he founded the magazine Narcissus in 1996. Presently Alexander Yakut is working on his first exhibition at Photo-London art fair, the 12υth International Art Fair at Art-Moscow in May and the 'Russian Pavillion' project that opens in June 2008 at Burevestnik yacht club.