Misha Dontsov

My paintings explore the unstable space between the human figure, the animal, and the landscape. I am interested in images that seem recognizable at first—a face, a cat, a bird, a flower, a body—but gradually become something less certain. Figures emerge from layers of paint, disappear into them, and sometimes seem to transform into plants, animals, architecture, or fragments of landscape.

I work through accumulation rather than illustration. Paint is built up, scraped away, overwritten, drawn into, and allowed to remain visibly unresolved. Acrylic, ink, drawing, dry textures, stains, and gestural marks coexist without being completely subordinated to one another. The drawing often cuts through the painted surface, preserving the sensation of something being discovered rather than deliberately constructed.

The works are populated by recurring figures: animals with human qualities, human figures with animal or botanical attributes, masked faces, profiles, birds, flowers, and hybrid forms. These are not intended as fixed symbols. They function more like characters in an unfinished language. A cat may become a witness; a flower may become a head; a bird may suggest movement, thought, or escape. Their meanings remain fluid.

Color pl...

2000 Painting classes at Art Students League, NYC
1995 MA in Communication Design, Pratt Institute, NYC
1986 BA in Graphic Design, Art College, St. Petersburg, Russia

2015 "In Sane" Group shown, Teco Gallery, Chicago, IL
2014 "Four" Group Show, Galley 265, NYC
2014 Abstract Nudes, Touch Of Modern Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2012 Atmosphere, Lana Santorelli Gallery, NYC
2011 Land of Make-Believe, Lana Santorelli Gallery, NYC
2010 Hemispheres, Lana Santorelli Gallery, NYC
2009 Gastronomy, Lana Santorelli Gallery, NYC
1997 Russia: The Posters, Goldbar Gallery, NYC
1995 Found Objects Constructions, Goldbar Gallery, NYC
1992 Remembering Malevich, State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow
1992 International Art Biennale, St. Petersburg, Russia