Voitsekhov Leonid

Leonid Voitsekhov (1955-2018) is an artist, painter, graphic artist, author of performances, installations, and artistic actions.

He was born in Odesa.

In the early 80s, he became a leading figure in Odesa’s unofficial art scene, which later identified itself as the southern branch of Moscow conceptualism.

He graduated from the M. Grekov Odesa Art School (1973), and later from the Faculty of Art and Graphics of the Ushynskyi Pedagogical Institute (1976). He studied at the Faculty of Architecture of the Odesa Civil Engineering Institute (1977-1978).

Member of the art groups “Furmanny Lane” and “Chistoprudny Lane” (since 1987).

Leader of the group of Odesa conceptualists “Apt-Art” (since 1982).

1988-1990 – curator of the project “Diaspora” (exhibition of Jewish artists).

Since 1991 – coordinator of the project “Jewish Museum of the CIS”.

In the early 70s, he created semi-mythical pop art objects, as he called them – “fluxus”. He begins to develop his iconic project “Niagara Fountain” – consisting of plans and engineering calculations for the transformation of Niagara Falls into a huge fountain.

Organiser of the campaigns “This Shirt is Closer to the Body” (80s), “Exploration of Artistic Fields” (1987) and others.

In 1987, he moved to Moscow and later returned to Odesa.

In 2016, Leonid Voitsekhov’s book Projects, in which he describes many of his unrealised conceptual ideas, was published, which led to a scandal, and the ArtHuss publishing house withdrew the book from sale.

He lived and worked in Odesa.