Born in 1950 in Leningrad (St. Petersburg), U.S.S.R., Mikhail Magaril emigrated to the United States in 1990, and lives and works in New York City. He graduated from Moscow Poligraphic Institute, Leningrad in 1973 with a degree in Graphic Arts. He served in the Russian army in a tank regiment and worked for several publishing houses.
In America he has been artist in residence and instructor at the New York Center for Book Arts, worked as a freelance illustrator for the New York Times, and founded his own publishing company: Summer Garden Editions.
Magaril has developed a painting style he calls Zhart, characterized by vibrant colors and optical illusions as a means of depicting macabre political themes through humour and sarcasm.
His works have been displayed at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York; The Hermitage Museum, Contemporary Arts Center of Virginia; The Brooklyn Museum, as well as Princeton, Harvard and Yale Universities.
“As an adolescent, I became acquainted with Robert Burns through the Russian translations of Samuel Marshak, and was amazed at how contemporary and relevant Burns seemed. At a time of such strong Soviet censorship, Russian readers received a taste of freedom through the poetry of Burns. When I immigrated to America in 1990, Burns' book of poetry was among the items I was able to salvage among the few possessions we were allowed aboard the plane. The chance to participate in this show has evoked memories of my youth and working with Burns' epigrams has allowed me to explore the satire I have always admired in this poet's work.”
Mikhail Magaril (Russian, living and working in New York)
View Exhibition Artwork