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Alexander Kargaltsev

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Alexander Kargaltsev
Born
Moscow, Russia
NationalityAmerican
Known forPhotography, theatre, cinema
MovementContemporary art

Alexander (Sasha) Kargaltsev is a Russian-born American artist, writer, photographer, actor and film director.[1]

Biography

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Alexander Kargaltsev was born in Moscow. He came to New York in 2010 to study at the New York Film Academy. He never came back to Russia after applying for asylum in the United States.[2] As a photographer, Kargaltsev is known for his series of nude male portraiture. In 2012 he published a book Asylum with nude portraits of Russian gay asylum seekers in the United States.[3][4] His activism works also included organization of a protest against IKEA for the removal of a photograph of a lesbian couple from the Russian edition of Ikea Family Live magazine.[5]

His short movies, The Cell (2010) and The Well (2009) won him a scholarship at the Russian State University of Cinematography.[6] Kargaltsev moved to New York City in 2009 after winning a scholarship to the New York Film Academy[7] and applied for asylum[8] in the United States, citing persecution, based on his sexual orientation.[9] Kargaltsev's asylum was approved in May 2011 after nine months of hearings. The evidences gathered was presented to USA Immigration and Naturalization Services.[10]

Kargaltsev's debut as a theatre director was the play The Net, staged in Dixon Place in New York.[11] He directed the play Crematorium, based on a story written by Russian playwright Valeriy Pecheykin. The play was staged in its abridged version at New York's Shelter Studios and Gene Frankel Theatre.[12][13]

At the time of the 2014 Winter Olympics, Alexander Kargaltsev responded to a controversial photo of Russian-American gallerist Dasha Zhukova. On her photo, she is sitting on a chair composed of a semi-nude black woman with her legs up in the air. In order to reverse the “Visual injustice and offense” of Zhukova's image, Kargaltsev created the image with a naked Afro-American man, who is sitting on a naked white man on his back with his legs aloft.[14]

Crematorium for gays, scene from the play.
Poster shot for Crematorium.
Performance of Crematorium
Shot from performance of Crematorium
Sasha Kargaltsev's answer to Dasha Zhukova

Exhibitions

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Solo

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Group

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  • 2010 "Hung Checking Out the Contemporary Male". "Gitana Rosa Williamsburg" Gallery. New York City.[18][19]
  • 2013 "Queerussia: the hidden (p)art". 'Mooiman' Gallery. Groningen, Netherlands.[20]
  • 2014 "Juicy". "Gitana Rosa Williamsburg" Gallery. New York City.[21]
  • 2015 "Same as You". Curated by Igor Zeiger. "Mazeh 9" Municipal youth art center gallery. Tel Aviv[22][23]
  • 2020 "The dark male model, Forbidden words". Galerie MooiMan. Groningen.[24]
  • 2020 ""Eros and Thanatos". Curated by Igor Zeiger, "Beam Collective" gallery. Jaffa

Publications

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  • Asylum. Alexander Kargaltsev. 2012. ISBN 978-0-9883289-0-7.

Collections

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Kargaltsev's works are in the permanent collection of the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art.[25]

References

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  1. ^ "Друзья и любовники". kvir.ru. Retrieved December 9, 2018.
  2. ^ Pearson, Erica (March 18, 2012). "Russians find asylum in New York amid gay-bashing, harsh laws back home". The New York Daily News. Retrieved March 22, 2020.
  3. ^ "Alexander Kargaltsev's 'Asylum' Photographs Capture Russian Gay Men Who Fled to the U.S." HuffPost. October 26, 2012. Retrieved December 15, 2015.
  4. ^ "Asylum: Alexander Kargaltsev". Retrieved December 15, 2015.
  5. ^ J. Lester Feder (November 25, 2013). "LGBT Activists Stage Kiss-In at Brooklyn Ikea To Protest Store's Lesbian Scandal in Russia". BuzzFeed. Retrieved December 15, 2015.
  6. ^ "Колодец (The Well)" – via ruskino.ru.
  7. ^ Никита Терский. "Беженец-гей Александр Каргальцев: Я вернусь, если Путин меня попросит". Retrieved December 17, 2015.
  8. ^ Erica Pearson (March 18, 2012). "Brooklyn filmmaker Alexander Kargaltsev fled after clash at Moscow pride rally". New York Daily News. Retrieved December 15, 2015.
  9. ^ "Александр Каргальцев: "Родители были в ужасе, когда поняли, что я гей". Retrieved December 15, 2015.
  10. ^ Nikola Krastev. "Why a Gay Muscovite Sought, and Won, U.S. Asylum". The Moscow Times. Retrieved December 17, 2015.
  11. ^ "Alexander Kargaltsev- The Net (Dance Theater)". March 28, 2013. Retrieved December 15, 2015.
  12. ^ Wong, Curtis M. (May 19, 2014). "Facing Death, Gay Couples Aim To 'Turn Straight' In Controversial NYC Play". HuffPost.
  13. ^ "Crematorium Collaborators Alexander Kargaltsev and Pavel Solodovnikov Discuss Russia, Ukraine, and Their Latest Show | TheaterMania". www.theatermania.com.
  14. ^ Daisy Wyatt (January 29, 2014). "Russian artist publishes 'gay chair' in protest against Dasha Zhukova photograph". Independent.co.uk. Archived from the original on January 29, 2014. Retrieved December 15, 2015.
  15. ^ Dan Avery (October 17, 2012). "Photographer Alexander Kargaltsev Offers "Asylum" In New York Gallery Show". Retrieved December 15, 2015.
  16. ^ Christofer Harrirty (February 7, 2014). "In the Galleries: Alexander Kargalstev's Friends and Lovers". Retrieved December 15, 2015.
  17. ^ Talijancic, Ivan (October 5, 2017). "Alexander Kargaltsev with Ivan Talijancic". Retrieved October 9, 2017.
  18. ^ "HUNG Checking Out the Contemporary Male". Archived from the original on December 22, 2015. Retrieved December 17, 2015.
  19. ^ "HUNG Checking Out the Contemporary Male". Archived from the original on December 22, 2015. Retrieved December 17, 2015.
  20. ^ "'Queerussia: The hidden (p)art opens in Groningen". Archived from the original on December 22, 2015. Retrieved December 17, 2015.
  21. ^ "Juicy. a group exhibition". Retrieved December 17, 2015.
  22. ^ Kristóf Joseph Steiner. ""Same as You " a group exhibition". Retrieved December 15, 2015.
  23. ^ "Art Group Exhibition at Mazeh 9 Gallery". Retrieved December 17, 2015.
  24. ^ "Expositie 'The dark male model, Forbidden words' vanaf 1 maart te zien in galerie MooiMan male-art". gezinsbode.nl. February 25, 2020. Retrieved March 22, 2020.
  25. ^ "Kargaltsev, Alexander". Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art. Retrieved January 19, 2019.
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