Konstantin Bokov (born 1940 in

Shostka Shostka (, ) is a city in Sumy Oblast, northeastern Ukraine. Shostka serves as the administrative center of Shostka Raion. Population: The city lies on the Shostka River, a tributary of the Desna (river), Desna, from which it gets its name. Sho ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

) is a Ukrainian born American artist who creates mixed media assemblages, sculptures, and paintings while most often employing found materials and objects.

Biography

He is the son of the poet and songwriter Viktor Bokov (1914-2009). He initially studied music at the Art Academy of Leningrad in what is now once again

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

but soon fell under the spell of the canvases of sunsets by

Vincent van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In just over a decade, he created approximately 2,100 artworks ...

and decided that he wanted to paint. Bokov immigrated the United States in 1975 with his wife and son. He is represented by the Van Der Plas gallery in New York City and also installs works on his own initiative at various locations in his home neighborhood of Washington Heights. Sometimes considered an

outsider artist Outsider art is art made by self-taught individuals who are untrained and untutored in the traditional arts with typically little or no contact with the conventions of the art worlds. The term ''outsider art'' was coined in 1972 as the title ...

, Bokov has exhibited at European Outsider Art Fair in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

and the

Outsider Art Fair The Outsider Art Fair or OAF is an international exhibition that features outsider artists who work in a variety of mediums. It is a biannual fair occurring in New York City and Paris, the former taking place in January and the latter in October. ...

in New York City. Bokov's work has been exhibited at the Now Gallery alongside that of

Keith Haring Keith Allen Haring (May 4, 1958 – February 16, 1990) was an American artist whose pop art emerged from the Graffiti in New York City, New York City graffiti subculture of the 1980s. His animated imagery has "become a widely recognized visual l ...

and

Jean-Michel Basquiat Jean-Michel Basquiat (; December 22, 1960 – August 12, 1988) was an American artist who rose to success during the 1980s as part of the neo-expressionism movement. Basquiat first achieved notoriety in the late 1970s as part of the graffiti ...

. Most recently he had a solo exhibition at the Van Der Plas Gallery in concert with his 80th birthday titled "Another Man's Treasure for All to Behold". Bokov is the subject of the 2012 documentary "Free" written and directed by Mark Lechner.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bokov, Konstantin Living people 1940 births American artists Soviet emigrants to the United States