What I cover
I am interested in artists who use classical technique for contemporary questions, in the materials criticism tends to overlook, and in what happens to a work once the market gets hold of it. I do not review everything that opens. I take on subjects I can write about with something to say.
- Contemporary painting and drawing, with an eye for figurative work and technique
- Sculpture and material practice, including bronze, ceramics and textile work
- Photography and image-making, including fashion imagery treated as art
- Artists working between Eastern Europe and Britain, and the diaspora scene in London
- Exhibitions, fairs and institutional programmes in London and further afield
- The art market where it says something about the work: auction records, attribution, who is paying
Selected criticism in other publications
Every piece below is live and can be read in full. Dates are publication dates.
- Prokofiev Studio Gallery is now open in London Report on a new London gallery and what it sets out to do.
- Decoding the canvases of Olga Puzikova Reading a painter through her own visual vocabulary.
- The silent music of living bronze On sculpture, and what bronze does that other materials cannot.
- Sofiia Segalla, art review of the 'Birch Roses' series Review of a painting series, written for an English-language arts readership.
- It bugs me: Tes Berge's photographic commentary Photography read as argument rather than as image-making.
- How the artist Diana Meridi hypnotises through visual alchemy Artist profile, published in Romanian.
- Fashion Frontier Fashion imagery read as visual art, published in Chinese.
- 11 London art exhibitions we can't wait to see in September Season guide written as selection rather than listing.
- Artists who are shaping the future of ceramics On sculptors and ceramicists working at the edge of the material.
- Contemporary artists working with classical methods Thematic essay across several artists, published in Russian.
In Creativity's UK
I founded the arts magazine Creativity's UK in 2022 and edit it, so these are my own pages rather than another editor's commission. They are here to show range and register.
- London's art world wakes up in 2026 Season preview written as an argument about where attention is going.
- Threads that came alive On textile work and the line between craft and fine art.
- Hermione Allsopp, 'Unexpected Consequence', ADH Gallery, London Exhibition review, written from the show.
- Rubens: why a masterpiece sold for peanuts What an auction result reveals about attribution and nerve.
- Frida's pain is now worth millions On a record price, and what the market buys when it buys biography.
Formats
- Exhibition review, usually 600 to 1,200 words, filed within a week of the visit
- Artist profile based on a studio visit or an interview, 1,000 to 2,000 words
- Catalogue and exhibition text for galleries, art fairs and institutions
- Thematic essay reading several artists or a movement together
- Interview, edited for print or published as a transcript
- Jury and selection work for prizes and open calls
Languages
I write in English and Russian. My work has also been published in Romanian and Chinese translation, arranged by the commissioning title. Where a piece is intended for more than one market, I prepare the English text with translation in mind and check the translated version before it runs.
Standing
- Member, International Federation of Journalists
- Member, Union of Russian Writers, and of the PEN Centre
- Founder and editor-in-chief of the arts magazine Creativity's UK since 2022
- Jury member for cultural awards, including SIFFA
- Graduate of the Maxim Gorky Literature Institute, Moscow, and its Advanced Literary Courses
- Reference: Wikipedia entry
Commissioning
Editors, galleries and institutions are welcome to write directly. Tell me the subject, the format, the word count and the deadline, and send whatever material exists: images, a press release, a catalogue, or simply the name of the artist. I reply within two working days and say plainly whether the piece is one I can write well.
Fees are agreed per commission and quoted on request. They depend on length, research, travel and rights. Where a piece is written for translation into other markets, that is agreed at the same time.
The commissioning publication sets the brief and holds editorial control. Subjects of a review do not get copy approval, and I do not write to a script supplied by the artist or the gallery.