Alexander Melamid (;[Vitaly S. Gribkov, Параллельная культура: интегративное направление в современной российской культуре (Смысл, 1999), p. 62.] born July 14, 1945) is a -born conceptualist and performance artist.
Biography
Melamid was born into a Jewish family of , a Soviet historian living in
Moscow. In his early life, he attended the Stroganov Art Institute, where he collaborated with
Vitaly Komar in the Russian
Sots art movement (a parallel to the Western
pop art movement). Known as a cynical
Social Realist, Melamid began collaborating with Komar in the late 1960s; the two emigrated together to New York City from the
Soviet Union in 1977.
[Adam Gopnik, " Bayonne," New Yorker, April 4, 1989.] The duo created collaborative works as "Komar and Melamid". In 2003, the two artists decided to go their separate ways. Around this time, Melamid's first-born son, Dan, introduced him to the world of hip-hop, which included his clients and close friends
Whoo Kid and 50 Cent. Melamid was intrigued by hip-hop society because of its rich history and world appeal, and began to paint the hip-hop portraits that have become his first solo exhibition since splitting with Komar, on display at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit.
Alexander is currently working in Chelsea, NYC at his Art Healing Ministry.[ The Art of Plumbing]
Sources
