Ilya Volykhine

Based in New Zealand, Ilya Volykhine is a critically acclaimed figurative artist.

His extensive list of accolades includes being a finalist in the 2023 Molly Morpeth Canaday Award, a finalist in the 2016 Adam Portraiture Award, as well as in the 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2021 Walker and Hall Art Awards, where he has won for his figurative art.

His international achievements include work in the Archibald Prize at the Art Gallery of New South Wales and the Blake Prize for Religious Art, the Jacaranda Drawing Prize in Australia, as well as the Imago Mundi New Zealand Consciousness Collection in Italy.

Ilya was born in the USSR, and he and his family have lived all over the world; he has exhibited and held residencies across the globe, from New York to Estonia. Since moving to New Zealand in 2009, Ilya has exhibited throughout the country in both solo and group exhibitions. His artwork also features in numerous private, public, and corporate collections worldwide.

Ilya Volykhine’s paintings are darkly comic and sometimes poetic. The characters within his pictures battle through the anxieties and joys of life, and his narratives are loose, playful, and chaotic.

At the core of his work is Volykhine’s intuitive process—his confidence and...

Commissions welcomed.
Open Edition prints of most works are available.

Represented by:

Artbay Gallery, New Zealand
Art Majeur, France
Art Rewards, Norway
Exhibitions Gallery of Fine Art - New Zealand
Flagstaff Gallery, New Zealand
Gallery De Novo - New Zealand
Saatchi Art, USA
Singulart, France

AWARD EXHIBITIONS

2023 MOLLY MORPETH CANADAY AWARD, NZ
2021 WALKER & HALL ART AWARD, NZ
2018 WALKER & HALL ART AWARD, NZ
2017 WALKER & HALL ART AWARD, NZ
2016 ADAM PORTRAITURE AWARD, NZ
2016 WALKER & HALL ART AWARD, NZ
2014 NZ PAINTING & PRINTMAKING AWARD, NZ
2003 ARCHIBALD PRIZE, ART GALLERY OF NSW, AUS

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2024 PEOPLE, PLACES, THINGS, ​EXHIBITIONS GALLERY, NZ

2023 TABLE OF CONTENTS, EXHIBITIONS GALLERY, NZ

2023 IN PERSON, OBV GALLERY, MATAKANA NZ

2021 PUBLIC & PRIVATE, EXHIBITIONS GALLERY, NZ

2020 SECRET MESSAGES, ARTBAY GALLERY, NZ

2019 A CAKE WALK THE PLANK, EXHIBITIONS GALLERY, NZ

2019 MONKEY BUSINESS CARD, EXHIBITIONS GALLERY, NZ

2018 MOTHER TONGUE TWISTS, ARTBAY GALLERY, NZ

2018 INHABITED, EXHIBITIONS GALLERY, NZ

2017 PAINTED CITIES, ARTBAY GALLERY, NZ

2017 SHADOWS AND FOG, EXHIBITIONS GALLERY, NZ

2017 BOYHOOD DREAMS, KINA DESIGN SPACE, NZ

2017 THE FARCE, WAIHEKE COMMUNITY ART GALLERY, NZ

2016 EKSPERIMENDID, REMUERA GALLERY, NZ

2016 ATELOPHOBIA, PRINTING MUSEUM, ESTONIA

2016 GRASS GROWS ON MY TONGUE, KINA, NZ

2015 TOWN & COUNTRY, ARTBAY GALLERY, NZ

2015 BIRD BRAIN, KINA DESIGN SPACE, NZ

2014 ARS LONGA VITA BREVIS, ARTBAY GALLERY, NZ

2013 AWKWARD SPACES, TOI...