Grisha Bruskin  (Russian, 1945) 

Grisha Bruskin (Russian, b.1945) is a painter and sculptor best known for work that conveys issues of Jewish and Russian heritage. Born in Moscow, he studied at the Moscow Art School and the Moscow Textile Institute. During the Soviet era, which censored religious themes in art, Bruskin’s work raised controversy for depicting Jewish imagery. His painting In the Red Space (1982), for example, shows a golem (a figure from Jewish folklore) wearing a Soviet uniform. His series of Alefbet (1984) and Alefbet-Lexicon (1987) paintings juxtapose figures in Jewish religious dress against a background of hand-written Hasidic text. Bruskin’s work in sculpture includes the series Alphabetic Truths (1998) and Life is Everywhere (1998), which are porcelain sculptures that imitate Soviet-style chinaware. His series of bronze sculptures titled On the Edge are ironic representations of Soviet monuments. Bruskin’s work is currently held in several collections, including the State Russian Museum in Saint Petersburg, the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, and the Jewish Museum in New York. He lives and works in New York.