Zhenya Gershman - fine art figurative portraits drawings paintings

Zhenya Gershman was born in Moscow, Russia. She held her 1st solo exhibition in St. Petersburg, at age 14, and was selected as a subject of the TV Documentary Film “Our Generation”, a project dedicated to searching for the five most talented teenagers in Russia, showing hope for the cultural future of the country. The youngest student to be admitted to Otis Art Institute, Zhenya graduated with Honors and later received her Masters of Fine Arts degree from Art Center College of Design. Today, Zhenya’s work is featured in such preeminent private and public collections as Donald Simon (Chagall, Picasso, and other 20th century masterworks), The J. Paul Getty Research Institute (collector’s archives), and Richard Weisman (American Modern and Contemporary art). Zhenya is a recipient of numerous awards including the ALEX Award in Visual Arts, presented nationally to honored scholars and artists. A documentary film highlighting Zhenya’s career was released in the summer of 2011 by ICN Television Network.

Watch documentary film on Zhenya’s career · part 1
Watch documentary film on Zhenya’s career · part 2
Watch documentary film on Zhenya’s career · part 3

Zhenya is passionate in bridging the practice of art, art history, and education. Zhenya’s first-hand knowledge of traditional oil painting techniques has led her to a Rembrandt discovery. Her article “Rembrandt The ‘I’ Witness” is featured in Arion, Boston University, Fall 2011 and Le Monde, February 2012. Zhenya has worked for over a decade in The J. Paul Getty Museum Education Department, participating in interpretation of such exhibitions as “Icons of Sinai” and “Rembrandt: Telling the Difference”. During her tenure at the Getty, Zhenya has been active in developing curricula for Adult Gallery and Studio courses. Recently, Zhenya was invited by the De Young, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco to lead a seminar entitled “What to Do or Not to Do–That is the Question: The Art of Interactive Teaching in a Museum”.

Curriculum vitae

EDUCATION
1998-2001 | Art Center College of Design, MFA
1993-1996 |Otis Art Institute, BFA with Honors

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2012 | International Art Fair / Timothy Yarger Fine Art: LA Art Show
2011 | International Art Fairs / Timothy Yarger Fine Art: Art Aspen, Art Chicago, Art Miami, LA Art Show, San Francisco Art Market
2010 | Harris & Ruble Gallery, XII Apostles, LA, CA.
2007 | Jan Baum Gallery; Pacific Design Center; Bonhams and Butterfields, LA, CA.
2006 | Barnsdall Municipal Art Gallery, Otis Art Institute Survey Nine Decades, LA, CA.
2004 | Jan Baum Gallery; L.A. Artcore Gallery, LA, CA.
2003 | Brand Library; Patricia Correia Gallery, Bergamot Station, L.A., CA.
2002 | The J. Paul Getty Museum, Getty Underground, LA, CA.
2001 | Brewery Projects, LA, CA.
1999 | Los Angeles County Museum of Art, ARSG, LA, CA.
1996 | Richard Heller Gallery, Reflections, LA, CA.
1993 | Beliaevo Gallery, Moscow-LA, Moscow, Russia.
1989 |Conservatory, Saint Petersburg, Russia.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2012 | Presenter, 17th-Century Dutch Art, 16th Biennial International Conference on Netherlandic Studies, Calvin College, MI
2011 | Guest Lecturer, De Young, F.A. Museums of San Francisco, “What to Do or Not to Do–That is the Question: Interactive Teaching in a Museum”
2010-2011 | Editor/Writer, artSMart, Luxeco Living
2006–Present | Project Specialist for Adult Gallery and Studio Programs, The J. Paul Getty Museum
2006 | Producer/Director, “Bonus Time”, UCLA, Schoenberg Hall
2002-2006 | Art Talk, The J. Paul Getty Museum, Herculaneum
2001-2006 | Museum Educator, The J. Paul Getty Museum
2001 | Curator, “Art of Memory”, UCLA, Royce Hall

REVIEWS, PUBLICATIONS & MEDIA APPEARANCES

2012 | “L’invisible Rembrandt”, Le Monde, Paris, Saturday, February 4th, p. 3
2011 | “Rembrandt The ‘I’ Witness”, Arion, Boston University, Fall 2011, pp. 65-91
2011 | “Art Movement LA”, Profile Documentary, International Chinese Network
2011 | “Judische Frauen”, Hedwig Brenner, Volume IV, pp. 60-61, Germany
2010 | “Haiku Reviews”, The Huffington Post, Peter Frank
2010 | The XII Apostles, Luxeco Living, Bethany Colson
2008 | Interview with the Artist, Spraygraphic
2007 | “The Art of Gallery Teaching: From Periphery to Center: Art Museum Education in the 21st Century”, Reston, National Art Education Association, p.191
2007 | “Getty Pilgrimage”, New Morning Television
2007 | “Get Art” Interview, KCOP, Channel 13 News
2004 | “Video Green”, Chris Kraus, The MIT Press, pp.111-112
2003 | Pick of the Week, LA Weekly, Best of 2003 edition, vol.25, no.48
2002 | From Picasso to Pop, The Richard Weisman Collection, p.9
2000 | “Torpor”, Art and Text, issue no. 70, Chris Kraus
1990 | “Generation”, St. Petersburg TV

SELECTED PRIVATE & PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
The J. Paul Getty Research Institute, Special Collections archive.
Michael & Katherine Dukakis
Donald & Judy Simon
Richard Weisman