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MICHAIL GROBMAN
1939
country
Russia
period
1946-1968

Michail Grobman was born in 1939 in Moscow. He is an artist and a poet. In the 1960s he was an active member of The Second Russian Avant-garde. In 1971 he immigrated to Israel. In 1975 he founded the Leviathan group and art periodical.

He works in collage, painting, installation, and object. The use of text is very important in Grobman’s art, he writes minimalist poems, and "visual verses" consisting of magazine headings, transforms old book covers into poetic texts.  Grobman currently lives and works in Tel Aviv, Israel.

bibliography

Michail Grobman: Acts and Words
Symbol, Letter, and Word in Michail Grobman’s Art (EN) – Marc Scheps
Symbol, Letter, and Word in Michail Grobman’s Art (HE) – Marc Scheps
Michail Grobman at the Moscow International Biennale (EN) – Vasili Tsereteli
Michail Grobman at the Moscow International Biennale (RU) – Vasili Tsereteli
From Leviathan to Levitan: Michail Grobman within the context of russian conceptualism’s metamorphoses – Lola Kantor-Kazovsky
The Grobman Project – Marc Scheps


Selected Solo Exhibitions

  • 2007    Last Skies, Loushy & Peter  Art & Projects, Tel Aviv (cat. text: Marc Scheps)
  • 2006    Creation From Chaos to Cosmos, Bar-David Museum of Fine Art and Judaica, Kibbutz Baram (cat. text: Sorin Heller)
  • 2002    The Last Sky, installation, Tsveta Zuzoritch pavilion, Belgrad (cat. text: Irina Subotitch)
  • 1999    Michail Grobman: Works 1960-1998, The State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg (cat. texts: Evgenija Petrova, Marc Scheps, Lola Kantor- Kazovsky, Michail German)
  • 1998    Picture = Symbol + Concept, Herzliya Museum of Art, Herzliya (cat. texts : Lola Kantor- Kazovsky, Marina Genkina )
  • 1995    Password and Image, University Gallery, Haifa University (Leaflet)
  • 1990    Michail Grobman ,Tova Osman Gallery, Tel Aviv
  • 1989    Michail Grobman, Tova Osman Gallery, Tel Aviv
  • 1989    The Beautiful Sixties in Moscow (Jointly with Ilia Kabakov), The Genia Schreiber University Art Gallery, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv (cat. text: Mordechai Omer)
  • 1988    Michail Grobman: Künstler und Sammler, Art Museum, Bochum, Germany (cat. text: Peter Spielmann(
  • 1987    Messiah, installation and performance in the streets of Jerusalem (cat.)
  • 1985    Khlebnikov 100, performance in the streets of Acre, Jerusalem, Tiberias and Tel-Aviv
  • 1984    Michail Grobman, Zvi Noam Gallery, Beit Levik, Tel Aviv
  • 1977    Michail Grobman, Spertus Museum, Chicago
  • 1977    Performance in Judean desert
  • 1973    Michail Grobman, Negev Museum, Beer Sheva
  • 1973    Michail Grobman, Beth Uri and Rami Museum, Ashdot Yaacov (cat.)
  • 1972    Michail Grobman, Nora Gallery, Jerusalem
  • 1971    Michail Grobman : Paintings, Drawings, Prints, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Tel Aviv (cat. text: Haim Gamzu(
  • 1966    Michail Grobman, Projects Engineering Institute, Moscow
  • 1965    Michail Grobman, Artists House, Moscow
  • 1965    Michail Grobman, Energy Institute, Moscow
  • 1965    Michail Grobman, History Institute, Moscow
  • 1965    Michail Grobman, Usti-nad-Orlicy Theatre, Czechoslovakia (leaflet text: Dushan Konetchni)
  • 1959    Michail Grobman, Mukhina Art Institute, Leningrad


Selected Group Exhibitions

  • 2007    Jews of Struggle- The Jewish National Movement in the USSR, 1967- 1989, Bet Hatefutsoth, Tel Aviv (cat.)
  • 2007    Rebellious Art : Painters of the Second Russian Avant-garde from Kenda and Jacob Bar Gera’s Collection, Museum of History of City Lodz, Lodz
  • 2007   La Deuxieme Avant-garde Moscou 1950-1970, Galerie Minotaure, Paris (cat. text: Lola Kantor- Kazovsky )
  • 2007   Sotz- Art, Political art in Russia, The State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow
  • 2006    Black Coffee, Beit Hagefen, Haifa (cat. text: Hana Kofler )
  • 2006    Times of change, The State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg (cat.)
  • 2005    Avantgarde im Untergrund, Russische Nonkonformisten aus der  Sammlung Bar–Gera, Kunstmuseum, Bern (cat. text: Evgeny Barabanov) Etched Voices, Yad-Vashem, Jerusalem (cat. texts: Judith Shen Dar, Sorin Heller)
  • 2005    Accomplices, The State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow (cat. text: Andrei Erofeev)
  • 2004    Poeta pingens, The State Museum of Literature, Moscow (cat.)
  •      Cosmopalit, Ben-Gurion University, Beer-Sheva (cat. text: Haim Maor)
  • 2003    Das Recht des Bildes, Judische Perspektiven in der Modernen Kunst,Museum Bochum (cat.)
  • 2003    Persecuted art & artists, Under Totalitarian Regimes in Europe during the 20th Century, Monart Museum, Ashdod (cat.)
  • 2003    Yes do yourself…, Regeneration of Judaism in Israeli art, Zman Omanut, Tel Aviv (cat. text: Gideon Ofrat)
  • 2002    Matrimony, Beit Hagefen, Haifa (cat. text: Hana Kofler)
  • 2001    Children, Beit Hagefen, Haifa (cat. text: Hana Kofler)
  • 2000    Green not Cement, Artists Follow Poet H.N. Bialik, Tel-Aviv (cat. text: Doron Polak)
  • 2000    Nonkonformisten 1955-1988, Markishes Museum, Witten (cat.)
  • 2000    The Moscow Underground to Jindřzich Chalupecký, Galeria Ztihla  Klika, Praha (cat. text: Jiři Šetlik)
  • 1999    Open House, Beit Hagefen, Haifa (cat. text: Hana Kofler)
  •      Top 2000, Beit Hagefen, Haifa (cat. text: Hana Kofler)
  • 1998    Aspects of Israeli Art of the 70’s: 1.The Boundaries of Language, Tel Aviv Museum of Art
  • 1998    2.Tikkun, The Genia Schreiber University Art Gallery, Tel-Aviv University (cat. texts: Mordechai Omer, Ellen Ginton)
  • 1998    Forbidden Art, The State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg, The State Tretyakov Gallery,Moscow, Miami University Art Museum (Cat. texts: Alexander Borovsky, Evgeny Barabanov, John Bolt, Irena Vrubel- Golubkina)
  • 1996-97    Nonconformists: The Second Russian Avant-garde, from the Bar  Gera Collection, The State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg; The State  Tretyakov Gallery,Moscow; State Gallery, Frankfurt; Albers Museum, Bottrop, Germany; Kunsthalle, Leverkusen, Germany (cat. texts: Hans  Peter Ruse, Evgeny Barabanov, Alexander Borovsky)
  • 1996    Ketav: Flesh and Word in Israeli Art, Ackland Art Museum, North Carolina (cat. texts: Jerry Bolas, Gideon Ofrat, Michael Sgan-Cohen)
  • 1995    Our Century, Ludwig Museum, Cologne (cat. texts: Marc Scheps, Barbara Tiemann, Stephanie M. Baumann, Jens Bove, Gerard Goodrow, Martin Spanting)
  • 1994    The Printer’s Imprint, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem (cat. texts: Meira Perry-Lehmann, Arik Kilemnik)
  • 1994    Anxiety, The Museum of Israeli Art, Ramat Gan (cat. texts: Miriam Tovia-Boneh, Ilana Tenenbaum)
  • 1994    Europa Europa: The Century of the Avant-garde in Central and Eastern Europe, Kunsthalle, Bonn (cat. texts: Pontus Hulten, Karl Ruhrberg, Richard Stanislavsky, Cristopher Brockhouse, Norman Davies,  Sergei Averinzew, Krysztof Pomian)
  • 1993    Understandable Art, The Museum of Israeli Art, Ramat Gan (cat. texts: Miriam Tovia-Boneh, Yevgeny Steiner)
  • 1993    From Malevitch to Kabakov: Russian Avant-garde in the 20th Century, Ludwig Museum, Cologne (cat. texts: Marc Scheps, Eveli Weiss, Noemi Smolik, Stephan Diederich, Gerard A. Goodrow)
  • 1991    The Return to Painting in Israeli Printmaking, The Genia Schreiber University Art Gallery, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv
  • 1991    Text-Image, Janco-Dada Museum, Ein Hod (cat. text: Sara Hackert)
  • 1990    Different Art, The State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow (cat.)
  • 1990    The Museum as Collector, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Tel Aviv
  • 1990    Chagall to Kitaj: The Jewish Experience in 20th Century Art, Barbican Art Gallery, London (cat. text: Avram Kampf)
  • 1989    Wortlaut, K. Schopenhauer Gallery, Cologne (cat.)
  • 1989    The Russian Avant-garde in the Early 20th Century, University Gallery, Ben Gurion University, Beer Sheva (cat. text: Haim Finkelshtein) Abattoir ’89, Marseilles (cat.)
  • 1988    Avant-garde – Revolution – Avant-garde, Tel Aviv Museum of Art (cat. texts: Marc Scheps, Peter Spielmann)
  • 1988    Upon One of the Mountains: Jerusalem in Israeli Art, The Genia Schreiber University Art Gallery, Tel Aviv University (cat. text: Mordechai Omer)
  • 1987    Art Works Done in Groups, K-18, Kassel (cat.)
  • 1984    Transformations, The Genia Schreiber University Art Gallery, Tel Aviv University (cat. text: Mordechai Omer)
  • 1982    Leviathan Group, Jerusalem Theatre (cat.)
  • 1982    Russian Samyzdat Art, 1960-1982, Franklin Furance Gallery, New York; Chapaque Library Gallery, Washington, D.C. (leaflet)
  • 1980    East European Art in the 20th Century, Museum of Art, Bochum, Germany (cat.)
  • 1979    Leviathan Group, Artist’s House, Jerusalem (cat.)
  • 1979    20 Years of Independent Art in the Soviet Union, Gallery of St. Mary’s College, Maryland (leaflet)
  • 1978    Leviathan Group, Beth Uri and Rami Museum, Ashdot Yaacov  (cat.)
  • 1978    New Art from the Soviet Union, Pratt Institute Gallery, New York (leaflet)
  • 1975    Progressive Trends in Moscow, 1970-1975, Museum of Art, Bochum, Germany (cat.)
  • 1973    Modern Russian Art: Avant-garde Drawings, Ostwall Museum,  Dortmund (cat.)
  • 1970    New Trends in Moscow, Museum of Art, Lugano (cat.)
  • 1969    The New Moscow School, Pananti Gallery, Florence;Bar Gallery,Stuttgart; Interior Gallery, Frankfurt
  • 1969    The Russian Avant-garde Today, Gmurzinska Gallery,Cologne (cat.)
  • 1968    The New Moscow School, Museum of Art, Ostrov-nad-Ozhy, Czechoslovakia (cat.)
  • 1965    Artists from Moscow, Artists House, Moscow, Trade Union Club, Usti- nad- Orlicy, Czechoslovakia
  • 1964    Patent Institute, Moscow
  • 1963    Dostoevsky Museum,Moscow
  • 1962    Young Artists, Udarnik Cinema, Moscow