Svetlana Kornilova

Svetlana Kornilova (b. 1981) is a painter working in contemporary symbolic realism. She has been based in London since 2022. Her oil-on-canvas practice encompasses portraits and multi-figure compositions that examine human presence, psychological transitions, and liminal spaces within the contemporary world.

Kornilova graduated from the Stroganov Moscow State University of Art and Industry (Department of Monumental and Decorative Painting) and continued her studies at the Repin Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture in St Petersburg.

Her work has been exhibited internationally, including at the London Art Biennale, the Royal Society of Portrait Painters, the Royal Society of Women Artists, and the Royal Institute of Oil Painters at Mall Galleries in London, as well as in exhibitions across Europe and the United States.

In 2024, she won the Friends of Dulwich Picture Gallery Art Competition, and her work was displayed in the Gallery’s permanent collection.

• Stroganov Moscow State University of Industrial and Applied Arts in 2014
• Got Advanced course for professionals in Repin Saint Petersburgh State Academic Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. July 2015

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2026 – Aleph Contemporary Gallery, Cotswolds, UK
2022 – House-Museum of Marina Tsvetaeva, Moscow, Russia

Selected Group Exhibitions

2026 – Portrait Artist of the Year, Series 13, Sky Arts
2026 – Saatchi Gallery, London, UK (ArtEvol 2026)
2026 – Chianciano Biennale, Chianciano Museum, Italy
2026 – Royal Society of British Artists Annual Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London, UK
2026 – New English Art Club Annual Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London, UK
2026 – Society of Women Artists Annual Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London, UK
2026 – The Heavenly Matter, House-Museum of Marina Tsvetaeva, Moscow, Russia (curated by Elina Gritchina)
2025 – Society of Women Artists Annual Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London, UK
2025 – Bath Society of Artists, 120th Annual Exhibition, Bath, UK
2024 – Society of Women Artists Annual Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London, UK
2024 – Now and Then, Visual Arts Scotland, Dalkeith, UK
2023 – English Riviera Winter Open, Artizan Gallery, Torquay, UK
2023 – Royal Institute of Oil Painters Annual Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London, UK
2022 – London Biennale: Masterpiece, Gagliardi Gallery, London, UK
2022 – Royal Society of Women Artists Annual Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London, UK
2022 – G...