Dmitry Gennadievich Borshch () is a Russian-American artist known for his minimalistic, surrealist style. He has drawn portraits of several notable figures, including

Henry Kissinger Henry Alfred Kissinger (May 27, 1923 – November 29, 2023) was an American diplomat and political scientist who served as the 56th United States secretary of state from 1973 to 1977 and the 7th National Security Advisor (United States), natio ...

and

Ed Koch Edward Irving Koch ( ; December 12, 1924February 1, 2013) was an American politician. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1969 to 1977 and was mayor of New York City from 1978 to 1989. Koch was a lifelong Democrat who ...

Early life

Borshch was born in

Dnipro Dnipro is Ukraine's fourth-largest city, with about one million inhabitants. It is located in the eastern part of Ukraine, southeast of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on the Dnieper River, Dnipro River, from which it takes its name. Dnipro is t ...

petrovsk, Ukraine, and studied in Moscow. Borshch described Dnipropetrovsk and Soviet Moscow as "bleak", with his background in the countries playing a role in his work. In 1989, Borshch fled to the United States as a political refugee due to turmoil within the Soviet Union. He currently lives in New York, and describes himself as American or Russian-American.

Career

Borshch is known for his minimalistic artwork, which have been interpreted as a homage to Soviet

paradigm In science and philosophy, a paradigm ( ) is a distinct set of concepts or thought patterns, including theories, research methods, postulates, and standards for what constitute legitimate contributions to a field. The word ''paradigm'' is Ancient ...

s. Borshch accepts labelling his work as "Soviet nonconformist pictures", stating, "I would accept the label. USSR is no more but my art still lives there, 'nonconforming' to the state's cultural dictates and proscriptions." Borshch typically draws in blue ink against a white background, however has on occasion used different colors, such as red ink in ''Odalisque'', currently in the collection of the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

. His works have been exhibited at the Russian Cultural Center, HIAS, the Lydia Schukina Institute of Psychology in Moscow, and the Museums of Contemporary Art in

Poltava Poltava (, ; , ) is a city located on the Vorskla, Vorskla River in Central Ukraine, Central Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Poltava Oblast as well as Poltava Raion within the oblast. It also hosts the administration of Po ...

and

Lviv Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

Works

One of Borshch's most recognizable works is "Bush-Maliki News Conference. Baghdad, December 2008", a drawing of the George W. Bush shoe-throwing incident that has been exhibited at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences,

DePaul University DePaul University is a private university, private Catholic higher education, Catholic research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded by the Congregation of the Mission, Vincentians in 1898, the university takes its name from ...

, Brecht Forum and is included in the

Catalog of American Portraits The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art museum in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded in 1962 and opened in 1968, it is part of the Smithsonian Institution. Its collections focus on images of American artists, politicians, scientists ...

, maintained by the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Borshch, Dmitry Living people 21st-century Russian male artists Russian surrealist artists Soviet emigrants to the United States Year of birth missing (living people)