The Russian artist Valery Koshlyakov was born in Salsk in 1962. After his training as a stage decorator, he was active in the underground art scene in Rostov and from 1989 in Moscow. Since then, he has become known for his cityscapes, architectural fantasies and hastily painted portraits with spray paint. He uses European monuments and places, transformed as symbols of cultural heritage and politics. He often uses cardboard as a support, referring to European artists from the 1960s who made use of found objects and in this way brought innovation to the medium of ‘the painting’, a tradition that also belongs to Russia.
Today he is regarded as one of the most important contemporary artists in Russia and is mainly known for large format works. He represented Russia at the 50th Venice Biennale in 2003 and at the 25th Sao Paolo Biennale in 2002. His work is in the collections of museums worldwide: Louvre, State Russian Museum, Guggenheim in New York and Bilbao, Museum of Contemporary Art of Rome, Art Kennedy Center in Washington,… He is also a regular participant of the Biennale of Contemporary Art in Moscow. In addition, his work is present in numerous galleries in Europe, America and Asia.