Leni Smoragdova

Leni Smoragdova {$M}
Conceptual Artist | Creator of the Transaction Art Universe

My practice interrogates the fragile architectures of identity, memory, and value in a hyper-surveilled world. At its core lies the Transaction Art Universe (2012–Present)—an evolving system where art emerges from bureaucratic seams, digital fractures, and anonymized collective acts.

Key Pillars:
▸ Anonymity as Resistance
3,214+ collaborators surrender authorship under binding NDAs, creating a hive of contested narratives.
▸ The Aesthetics of Failure
Glitches, erased data, and legal voids are not metaphors—they are the medium.
▸ Art as Legal Fiction
Each piece exists as both artifact and contract, challenging ownership’s boundaries.

For Collectors:
Acquiring a Transaction Art work means investing in a living system. Whether a notarized glitch-print, performance relic, or cryptographic document, you become custodian of an ongoing experiment where art and transaction collapse into one.

2022 - Bang Bang Education, Illustrators / Artist
2012 - Central Saint Martins, Fine Art
2007 - Ural Federal University, The Sociology Teacher

Artsper, curators' choice on Singulart, Bidgala, SaatchiArt, Artmajeur.

Solo Exhibitions

From 2013 till 2017 - Non stop performance during 4 years. “Inglourious Basterds: heated bus stops”". Yekaterinburg, Russia. More than 10.000 people took part in it.

2013, the first sanctions were introduced in the country and essential goods disappeared from stores. An economic crisis set in. In the Urals, the temperature drops to minus 40 degrees in winter. Buses run infrequently.
December 2013, An unknown young woman froze and lost consciousness while waiting for bus, Passersby found her and called an ambulance.

2013 - “Dolmens”
2014 - "How I decided to undress everyone: naked people waiting buses". 
2015 - “Hero of the city “The bus stops”.
2016 - “Castration”.
2017 - “Circus”. Leni Smoragdova - The candidate for the governor of Sverdlovsk region, Russia.

Inglorious bastards "play out" and disappear, as suddenly as they appeared. Creating a complete illusion of deception.


Group Exhibitions
2024, 3rd - 30th Oct - "The Sight Unseen Exhibition", The Glasgow Gallery of Photography CIC, Glasgow, Scotland.
2022 - "Auto Focus", LoosenArt Gallery, Millepiani, Rome 2019, Nov - Women in Photo
2019, 3-6 Oct - The Other Art Fair, London
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