Darina Karpov was born in St. Petersburg, Russia and received her early academic training at the preparatory school for the Repin Academy of Art continuing at the Moscow Institute of Technology. After moving to the US she studied at the Maryland Institute College of Art and MFA program at the Yale School of Art. She is repre- sented by Pierogi Gallery in New York where she has had six solo shows. She also exhibited with Hales Gallery, London and was included in group shows at Neuberger Museum, DeCordova Museum, and the Irish Museum of Modern Art. Karpov’s work is represented in numerous public and private collections such as Princeton Universi- ty Art Museum, West Collection, and Zabludowicz Trust, London. She is a recipient of 2020 NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowships in Printmaking/Drawing/Book Arts, 2009 Pollock-Krasner Foundation grant, 2011 Leon Levy Founda- tion Grant, and 2008 National Academy’s William Paton Prize. She was awarded fellowships at Yaddo, McDowell Colony, UCross Foundation and two printmaking residencies at the Lower East Side Print Shop. Her work was featured in “Frozen Dreams: Contemporary Art from Russia,” by Hossein Amirsadeghi, Thames & Hudson.
Darina Karpov’s artwork captures scenes that shift restlessly between clear depiction of gures, and objects, to the entanglements and dissipation of abstract elements. Her imagery, both abstract and gurative, is rooted in her childhood in Russia in the 80s during the time of political and economic instability associated with the col- lapse of the Soviet Union. Envisioning memory as a non-linear tapestry her pieces blend events and imagination in a suspended space of transition. Karpov meticulously builds up her paintings, drawings and sculptures with multiple layers of textures and shapes executed in precise detail but set in a liminal space that manages to feel natural and illogical at the same time.
“I am fortunate to closely witness the development of Darina’s art practice over the period of two decades. I have very close emotional connection to Darina’s work as it comes from the experience of growing up at the verge of economic and political collapse of the Soviet Union and immigrating to the US in the early 90’s. Darina’s works awe me with their nuanced formal and narrative complexities. In her elaborate works on paper that comprise drawing, watercolor, collage as well as various printmaking techniques, Darina explores the complex experience of leaving the country of one’s birth for political reasons. Darina’s works contain feelings of loss, confusion, anger, anxiety, hope and nostalgia, and reference a wide range of sources such as Soviet era posters, children’s book illustrations, elements of constructivist design and film and animation stills. There is a very unique sense of touch in the way that Darina uses the materials in making her images. The visual experiences Darina’s work presents itself with an urgency of someone who is using all their resources to communicate an idea.”
—Vera Iliatova
CV
BORN
Saint Petersburg, Russia. 1973
EDUCATION
2001 MFA, Yale University School of Art
New Haven, CT
1998 BFA, Maryland Institute College of Art
Baltimore, MD
1990–91 Moscow Institute of Technology
St Petersburg, Russia
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2020
Between the no-longer and the still-to-come, Pierogi, New York, NY (22 Feb–23 May)
2015
Ignis Fatuus, Pierogi, Brooklyn, NY (8 May–7 June)
2013
Sudden Leap Into the Interior, Pierogi, Brooklyn, NY (15 February–17 March)
2012
Darina Karpov: New Paintings, Hales Gallery, London (20 January – 25 February)
2010
Wayward, Pierogi, Brooklyn, NY (2 July -1 August)
2008
Infinitely Small Disasters, Pierogi, Brooklyn, NY (23 May–23 June)
2007
New Work, Pierogi, Brooklyn, NY
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2022
Draw: International Exhibition of Contemporary Drawing, The Museum of Fine Arts, Split, Croatia
unSEEN: The Unpredictable Forms of Drawing, Dots Gallery, Belgrade, Serbia
Make Art Not War: Pierogi for Peace, Pierogi, Brooklyn, NY
2021
Pulp, Pierogi, Brooklyn, NY
2018
Les Fleurs du Mal, Pierogi, New York, NY
2017
Traces, Pierogi, New York, NY
Double Down, Pierogi, New York, NY
Nature/Nurture, Salisbury University Art Galleries, Salisbury, MD
2016
Rage for Art (Once Again), Pierogi, New York, NY
2014
PIEROGI XX: Twentieth Anniversary Exhibition, Pierogi, Brooklyn, NY (5 September – 5 October)
Fountains of the Deep: Visions of Noah and the Flood, 462 West Broadway, New York, NY. Curated by Darren Aronofsky
Idiom I, Pierogi, Brooklyn, NY
2013
Hypertrophic Visions, New York Center for Arts & Media Studies, New York (March)
2012
Editions ’12: Exhibition and Catalogue Launch for 2012 Special Editions Residency, Lower East Side Printshop, New York, NY
2011
Told, Hales Gallery, London (25 February – 2 April)
Windows and the Stories, Waiting Room, Tokyo (16 July – 13 August )
Rendered, A Stark Unreal, Contemporary Art Galleries, University of Connecticut, Storrs (14 March – 15 April)
2010
Nature, Once Removed: The (Un) Natural World in Contemporary Drawing, Lehman College Art Gallery, Bronx, NY. Curated by Sean McCarthy
(February 3–May 4)
Drawing Systems, Lafayette College, Easton, PA. Curated by Susan Swenson (30 August – 22 October)
2009
Insomnia, Pace University, New York, NY
Drawings, McKenzie Fine Art, New York, NY (18 June – 7 August)
Cream, no sugar, Pierogi, Brooklyn, NY (26 June – 26 July)
Hypothetical Landscapes, Janet Kurnatowski Gallery, Brooklyn, NY. (April 29-May 24)
Curated by Greg Lindquist
Paperwork II, Jonathan Ferrara Gallery, New Orleans, LA
Urbane Development, Spring Exhibition, Lower East Side Printshop, New York, NY. Selected by Joe Fig
Winter Exhibition, Lower East Side Printshop, New York, NY. Selected by Fabienne Lasserre
Printshop Benefit 2009, Lower East Side Printshop, New York, NY
2008
Vou-te contar uma história: Let me tell you a story, Porta 33, Funchal, Ilha de Madeira Portugal
Ultra Concentrated Joy, New York Academy of Art, New York, NY (12 November – 14 December)
BAM Next Wave Visual Arts Program, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Brooklyn, NY (September – December)
Landschaft Endecken [Discovering Landscape], Orangeriemuseum, Gera Germany
(July–Sept)
Drawn to Detail, DeCordova Museum, Lincoln, MA (August 30, 2007–January 4, 2009)
Gray Scale, Pierogi Leipzig, (September–October) (Three-person)
Order Desire Light, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, Ireland
Pierogi et al, Daniel Weinberg Gallery, Los Angeles, CA (July 12–August 23)
183rd Annual Exhibition: An Invitational Exhibition of Contemporary Art, National Academy of
Design, New York, NY (May 29–September 7)
Future Tense: Reshaping the Landscape, Neuberger Museum of Art, Curated by Dede Young
(May 11–July 20)
2007
Block Party II: An Exhibition of Drawings, Daniel Weinberg Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
(June 30–Aug 18)
Hela Havet Stormar (The Whole Sea Is Storming), Pierogi, Leipzig, Germany
(Un)Natural Selection, Pierogi, Brooklyn, NY (June 1–July 30)
Flatfiling, Pierogi / Artnews Projects, Berlin, Germany (May 18–June 23)
2006
One-person: New Work, Pierogi, Brooklyn, New York
Special Reconnaissance, gigantic art space, New York, NY
Coupling, Rosenberg Gallery NYU, New York, NY
Inaugural Exhibition, Pierogi Leipzig, Germany (Group Exhibition)
2005
into_the_far_nature, AG Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2004
Night of 1000 Drawings, Artists Space, New York, NY
2001
MFA Thesis Exhibition, Yale School of Art
AWARDS / RESIDENCIES
2020
NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowships in Printmaking/Drawing/Book Arts
2016
The Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Emergency Grant
Artists’ Fellowship, Inc. Grant
Ucross Foundation Residency
2012
Yaddo Corporation, Artists Residency, Saratoga Springs, NY
2011
Special Editions Residency Program, Lower East Side Print Shop
Leon Levy Foundation Grant
Virginia Center for Creative Art Residency, Amherst, VA
MacDowell Colony Residency, Peterborough, NY
2009-10
Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant
2008-09
Keyholder Residency Program, Lower East Side Print Shop, New York, NY
2008
William A. Paton Prize for Watercolor, National Academy Museum
2007
West Collection Short List
2001
Bradbury Thompson Memorial Prize, Yale School of Art
Carl Purlington Rollins Fellowship, Yale School of Art
TEACHING / VISITING ARTIST / TALKS
2019 Ithaca College, guest critic, artist talk
2015 Sarah Lawrence College, studio visit, artist talk
2015 Parsons School of Design, guest artist
2013 KGB Bar, Artist Talk, Creative Diaspora Series, curated by Yulia Tikhonova
2012 RISD, Painting Department, drawing Instructor
2012 Columbia University, School of Architecture, visiting artist
2010 Lafayette College, Easton, PA, visiting artist
2009 Christie’s Eductation Master’s Program, New York, Art Connoisseurship seminar, studio tour
2006 UC Davic, CA, visiting artist
2008 Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, Introductory Drawing, studio tour, artist talk
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Chidester, Brian. “Ingis Fatuus by Darina Karpov,” NYCEphemera.com, June 12, 2015
“Darina Karpov at Pierogi, March 2013,” video interview on GorkysGrandaughter.com
“Editions ’12” Catalogue for 2012 Special Editions Residency, Lower East Side Printshop, New York, NY, 2012
Frozen Dreams: Contemporary Art from Russia, Hossein Amirsadeghi, Thames & Hudson
Frank, Andrew. “Darina Karpov: Painting Q&A, BOMB Blog, 2010
Terry, Justin. “Hypothetical Landscapes at Janet Kurnatowski Gallery,” ArtCritical, May, 2009
“n+4 Literary New York,” das gefrorene meer, Winter 2008
Aishman, Steve. Exhibition Review, Beautiful Decay, Issue X, Fall 2008
“Sudden Appearances Into Vanishing,” ESOPUS, Fall 2008 (reproductions of 5 works)
McAdams, Shane. “Darina Karpov, Infinitely Small Disasters,” The Brooklyn Rail, July 2008
Kunitz, Daniel. “The National Academy Museum’s Grab-Bag Anthology,” The New York Sun, June 5, 2008
Pearse, Emma. “Artist Darina Karpov’s Purple Hills,” New York Magazine, June 11, 2008
“Darina Karpov: Infinitely Small Disasters,” TimeOut New York, Exhibits and Shows in Brooklyn, June 2008
“Juried Exhibitions-In-Print,” 2008 New American Paintings
Cohen, David. “Summer Gallery-Going: Hanging the Group Shows,” The New York Sun, May 27 2008
Texts by Paolo Colombo, Catherine Lampert, and Enrique Juncosa, 2008
Order Desire Light, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, Exhibition Catalogue
183rd Annual: An Invitiational Exhibition of Contemporary Art, National Academy Museum and School of Fine Arts, Exhibition Catalogue, 2008
“Darina Karpov: Infinitely Small Disasters,” Flavorpill, May 2008
Wyndham, Constance. “Darina Karpov at Pierogi,” Art in America, September 2007
“The Garden of Eden,” Someone’s Garden, Tokyo, Issue 1, February 2007
“Goings on About Town,” The New Yorker, January 2, 2007
The Review Panel, Brooklyn Special presented by Pratt Institute & artcritical.com
West, Paige. “Seen and bought at the Armory,” Art Addict, March 09, 2006
COLLECTIONS
Princeton Art Museum
The West Collection
Zabludowicz Collection
Aspen Art Collection
Various private collections