Born in 1965 in Penza, USSR (now in Russian Federation). Lives and works in Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Vadim Fishkin works in an unique post-conceptual tradition, which is intimately linked to technology and current scientific developments. However, any interest in technology and science is less a direct result of an engagement in these domains themselves than a by-product of what they can tell us about ourselves and such perennial issues as the search for faith and meaning, and the sense of futility known to reward such human enterprises. Indeed, in Fishkin’s practice, technology is granted a compact narrative and allegorical power, not to mention an absurd and poignant poetry. And although Fishkin embraces the futility of technology, foregrounding the fatuity of the human desires and ambitions that animate it, he does it with a sharp and theatrical humor, ultimately imbuing it with a redemptive lightness.
Selected solo exhibitions
2023
Batteries not included, Loom Gallery, Milan, Italy.
Dark Times, Božidar Jakac Art Museum, Kostanjevica na Krki, Slovenia.
2022
The Island of the Day Before, Franz Josefs Kai 3, Contemporary Art Space, Vienna, Austria.
Light Weight, DUM project space, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
2021
There is no magic. There is always a story (with Nika Radić), WHW, Galerija Nova, Zagreb, Croatia.
2020
Dark Times, DUM project space, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
2019
Collisions and Missing Parts (with Attila Csörgő), Hollybush Gardens, London, UK.
2018
Collisions and Missing Parts (with Attila Csörgő), Associazione Barriera, Turin, Italy.
A Little Big Bang, Loom Gallery, Milan, Italy.
2017
Vadim Fishkin, One night stand gallery, Musiz Foundation, Sofia, Varna, Bulgaria.
Light Solidarity, Galerija Gregor Podnar, Berlin, Germany.
2016
Light Chaser, DUM Project Space, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
The time when we wanted to be astronauts, LOOM GALLERY, Milan, Italy.
Scientific Bricolage, KRANK Art Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey.
2015
NO Magic, Museum of Contemporary Art, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
2014
Light Matters, VARTAI Gallery, Vilnius, Lithuania.
2013
Light Matters 4, Galerija Škuc, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
2012
Light Matters 3, Project Space Galerija Gregor Podnar, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Light Matters 2, Galerija Gregor Podnar, Berlin, Germany.
2011
Light Matters, KiBela, Maribor, Slovenia.
2009
tour en l’air, Galerija Gregor Podnar, Berlin, Germany.
Vadim Fishkin, Amaneï, Santa Marina Salina, Italy.
Vadim Fishkin, Kunstverein Rosenheim, Rosenheim, Germany.
The Cave of the Day Before / La grotta del giorno prima, Impronte Contemporary Art, Milan, Italy.
2008
Sorry – Out of Order, Galerija Gregor Podnar, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
2007
Moving Star, Georg Kargl Box, Vienna, Austria.
2005
Twins paradox, Galerija Gregor Podnar, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
A Speedy Day, La Biennale di Venezia, Slovenian Pavilion, Venice, Italy.
Vadim Fiškin, Galerie Eugen Lendl, Graz, Austria.
2004
Count down, count up, Galleri Konstepidemin, Göteborg, Sweden.
2002
Dictionary of imaginary places (with Guia Rigvava), Galerija Škuc, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
2000
Ognegraf, Museum of Modern Art, in Vlasta Delimar and Vlade Martek’ s apartment, Zagreb, Croatia.
Snow Show (with Mary Lucier), TV Gallery, Moscow, Russia.
1998
Dedicated, Galerija Š.O.U. Kapelica, Ljubljana; Galerie Knoll, Vienna, Austria.
Children’s Museum, Sezam, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
1997
Self-portrait, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, USA.
1995
Reason is Something…..(with E. Asse, D. Gutov), La Biennale di Venezia, Russian Pavilion, Venice, Italy.
One-Man Show, Mala galerija/Moderna galerija, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
1994
Proektika, Contemporary Art Center, Moscow, Russia.
Orbit S, XL Galerija, Moscow, Russia.
Exchanged Heads, Contemporary Art Center, Moscow, Russia.
1993
Darkness Orbit, Galeria Škola, Gallery Gelman, Gallery Dar, Gallery 1.0, Contemporary Art Centre, Moscow, Russia.
Selected group exhibitions
2022
Growing Out? Growing Up? Contemporary Art Collecting in the Baltics, Zuzeum Art Centre, Riga, Latvia.
Emergency Exit, MSUM / Museum of Contemporary Art Metelkova, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
2021
The Wonderfulness Of Memory, Cukrarna, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Expo Enclosed, TESEUM , Tongeren, Belgium.
EKO 8, International ART Triennial, UGM museum, Maribor, Slovenia.
2020
paranoia-tv, steirischer herbst, Graz, Austria.
supernature, Saint-Ex, digital culture – Reims, France.
LIGHT AFTER DARKNESS, MAM Mario Mauroner Contemporary Art, Salzburg, Austria.
Viral Self-Portraits, Museum of Contemporary Art Metelkova, Ljubljana , Moderna Galerija, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Collection of Contemporary Art: Marino Cettina, Museum of Contemporary Art of Istria, Croatia.
2019
The Great Globe, aqb PROJECT SPACE, Budapest, Hungary.
2018
No Looking Back, Okay?, UGM Maribor Art Gallery, Maribor, Slovenia.
BLACK MIRROR, MAM Mario Mauroner Contemporary Art, Vienna, Austria.
Middle Gate II – The Story of Dymphna, Saint Dymphna Church, Geel, Belgium.
The Marvellous Cacophony, 57th October Salon, Belgrade, Serbia.
BLACK MIRROR, MAM Mario Mauroner Contemporary Art, Salzburg, Austria.
Places: One After Another, Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center, Moscow, Russia.
Pluses and Minuses. On Bialystok Power Station, Galeria Arsenał, Bialystok, Poland.
Vadim Fishkin / Yerbossyn Meldibekov. The Relationship of Coinciding, Aspan Gallery, Almaty, Kazakhstan.
2017
Issues of Uncertainty, Ani Molnár Gallery, Budapest, Hungary.
tech x space, Galerija ŠKUC, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
VIVA ARTE VIVA, 57th International Art Exhibition, La Biennale di Venezia, Venice, Italy.
Symptoms of Society, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China.
2016
Cold Front from the Balkans, Pera Museum, Istanbul, Turkey.
Rotterdam Cultural Histories #9: Manifesta 1 Revisited, Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art, Rotterdam, Netherlands.
Beyond the Globe | 8th Triennial of Contemporary Art – U3, Museum of Contemporary Art, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
2015
Now, At The Latest, Kunsthalle Krems, Krems an der Donau, Austria.
Demonstrating Minds. Disagreements, Kiasma Art Museum, Helsinki, Finland.
Performing the Museum, Koroška Gallery of Fine Arts, Slovenj Gradec, Slovenia.
Lexus Hybrid Art 2015, Rossiya Theatre, Moscow, Russia.
Übermorgenkünstler, Gesellschaft der Freunde Junger Kunst at Altes Dampfbad, Baden-Baden, Germany.
Working Drawings and Other Visible Things on Paper Not Necessarily Meant To Be Viewed as Art (After Bochner), CAC Bukovje/Landskrona for Kilometre of Sculpture, Võru, Estonia.
Art Festival Watou, Watou, Belgium.
Minimal Forms of Reality, Bunkier Sztuki Contemporary Art Gallery, Kraków, Poland.
Mainzer Ansichten 111 Künstler / innen in einem Büro, Kunsthalle Mainz, Mainz, Germany.
Grammar of Freedom / Five Lessons: Works from the Arteast 2000+ Collection, Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, Moscow, Russia.
Substantial influence, Bayer Kulturhaus, Leverkusen, Germany.
l’avantgoût Mécatronique (with Paul Roset), Saint-Ex – Culture numérique Reims, Reims, France.
Crises and New Beginnings: Art in Slovenia 2005-2015, curated by Bojana Piškur, Igor Španjol, Vladimir Vidmar, Museum of Contemporary Art Metelkova, +MSUM, Slovenia.
2014
Coffee & Ink, Casas Riegner Gallery, Bogota, Colombia.
Beyond Zero, Calvert 22 Gallery, London, UK.
Disconsent, Art Today Association, Center for Contemporary Art – The Ancient Bath, Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
Manifesta 10. The European Biennial of Contemporary Art, The State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia.
Atlas of Modernity. The 20th and 21st Century Art Collection, ms2 √ Muzeum Sztuki Lodz, Poland.
September Show, Galerija Gregor Podnar, Berlin, Germany.
2013
Sculpture Today, Center for Contemporary Art, Celje, Slovenia.
Summertime Readings. Selected works from Cesis Art Festival exhibition, CAC Contemporary Art Centre, Vilnius, Lithuania.
NO Questions, Ausstellungsraum Klingental, Basel, Switzerland.
Planet Mensch, Eres-Stiftung Foundation, München, Germany.
Summertime Readings, CACI- Contemporary Art Centre, Vilnius, Lithuania; Cesis Art Festival, Cesis, Latvia.
Amuse me, Mestna Galerija Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Materiality in the portal, Association for Culture and Education KIBLA, Maribor, Slovenia.
Almost Spring / 100 Years Of Slovene Art, Maribor, Slovenia.
The things I want to express are so beautiful and pure, (with Fernanda Gomes and Andreas Lolis) Peter Kilchmann Gallery, Zurich, Switzerland.
Rules of Attraction, insitu, Berlin, Germany.
2012
It doesnʼt always have to be beautiful, unless itʼs beautiful, Art Gallery of Kosovo, Pristina, Kosovo.
Von Sinnen. Wahrnehmung in der zeitgenössischen Kunst, Kunsthalle zu Kiel, Kiel, Germany.
9th Shanghai Biennale, Shanghai, China.
OFFEN Auf AEG, Nürnberg, Germany.
The Present and Presence, MSUM- Museum of Contemporary Art Metelkova, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
2011
Eyes Looping for a Head to Inhabit, Muzeum Sztuki w Lodzi, Lodzi, Poland.
Möglichkeitsraster / possibility grid, ESC im LABOR, Steirischer Herbst, Graz, Austria.
Laboratory of the Future, Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw, Poland.
Remember, Center of Contemporary Art, Celja, Slovenia.
Merz World: Yona Friedman & Tomas Saraceno, Cabaret Voltaire, Zürich, Switzerland.
European Triennial of Small Sculpture, curated by Katia Baudi, Galerija Murska Sobota, Murska Sobota, Slovenia.
Impossible Community, MMOMA- The State Museum of Contemporary Art, Moscow.
Dada Moscow, Artplay Design Center, Moscow, Russia.
2010
Drawings spaces, Impronte Contemporary Art, Milan, Italy.
Art to spend time, MʼARS Center of Contemporary Art, Moscow, Moscow, Russia.
Drawings spaces, Russian Academy of Arts, Moscow, Russia.
Ellipse/Eclipse part II, Galerie Schleicher + Lange, Paris, France.
Space Inventions, Künstlerhaus Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
U3 – 6th Triennial of Contemporary Art in Slovenia, Museum of Modern art, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
BEYOND CREDIT – Contemporary Art and Mutual Trust, Sanat Limanı, Istanbul, Turkey.
Sweet Nowhere, City Museum of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
2009
Accelerated Living, Impakt Festival, Utrecht, Netherlands.
New Old Cold War, Post-Socialist Countries Experience, 3rd Moscow Biennial, Moscow, Russia.
Visions of the frontier, IVAM- Institut Valencià d’Art Modern, Valencia, Spain.
Azioni molto semplici senza uno scopo preciso, ARTRA Gallery, Milan, Italy.
Liquid Frontiers, Europe XXL, Lille, France.
2008
Eurasia, Geographic cross-overs in art, Mart, Rovereto, Italy.
L’Homme Merveilleux, Chateau de Malbrouck, Manderen, France.
Vom Schnee, Museum Kitzbühel, Austria.
Museum in the Street, Museum of Modern Art, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
2007
Speed 3, IVAM- Institut Valencià dArt Modern, Valencia, Spain.
From Text to Machine, Rael Artel Gallery, Tartu, Estonia.
Like to Like, Galeria Gregor Podnar, Berlin, Germany.
Résidents, Espace EDF Electra, Paris, France.
27th Biennial of Graphic Arts, Art Poster Project, 3500 cm2, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Everyday Stories, HAU Hellenic American Union Gallery, Athens, Greece.
Acting in Utopia, Landesgalerie am Oberösterreichischen Landesmuseum, Linz, Austria.
2006
Uchronies 49 Nord 6 Est, Fonds regional dart contemporain de Lorraine, France.
Common Destination, Drawing Center, New York City, USA.
This Is Not America, Braverman ByArtProjects, Tel Aviv, Israel.
Zerstörte Welten und die Utopie der Rekonstruktion, Kunstraum Dornbirn, Dornbirn, Austria.
Ødelagte Verdener – og rekonstruktionens utopi, Arhus Kunstbygning, Center for Contemporary Art, Århus, Denmark.
Approaching Realitys Borders. Art, Science and Technology, ARCOS- Museum of Contemporary Art Sannio, Benevento, Italy.
SpacePlace: Art in the Age of Orbitization, net-curating, ZKM Center for Art and Media in Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe, Germany.
2005
Venture II, Galerija Gregor Podnar, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
JOY Casino Luxembourg, Forum d’art contemporain, Luxembourg, Luxembourg.
TERRITORIES, IDENTITIES, NETS, Slovene Art 1995 – 2005, Moderna Galeria Ljubljana Museum of Modern art, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
EVN Collection, MUMOK- Museum Moderner Kunst, Vienna, Austria.
Overtures, Artcircolo Kunstprojekt, Munich, Germany.
ArtStars, ON25, Luxembourg, Luxembourg.
MIR Dreams of Space, Stills Gallery, Edinburgh, England.
2004
Arte del Mediterraneo, MACRO- Museum for Contemporary Art, Rome, Italy.
On Air, Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst, Leipzig, Germany.
Venture, Galerija Gregor Podnar, Kranj/Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Eintritt frei, BAWAG Foundation, Vienna, Austria.
Imagine Limerick, eva+, Limerick, Germany.
COSMOPOLIS1: Microcosmos – Macrocosmos, MMCA- Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art, Thessaloniki, Greece.
FLIPSIDE, Artists Space, New York City, USA.
2003
Berlin – Moscow / Moscow – Berlin, Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin, Germany.
Imagining Prometheus, Palazzo della Ragione, Milano, Italy.
Station Utopia, La Biennale di Venezia, Venice, Italy.
Modesty, Galerija Škuc / Mala galerija (Moderna Galerija), Ljubljana, Slovenia.
MIR 2003 Campaign, zero gravity, Star City, Russia.
Fade in, Fade out, Gallery Kapelica, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Poesis, Műcsarnok Kunsthalle, Budapest, Hungary.
MIR. Art in Variable Gravity, Cornerhouse Gallery, Manchester, UK.
Impark1, Olympia Park, Munich, Germany.
Parasite Paradise, Leidsche Rijn, Utrecht, Netherlands.
2002
Iconoclash, ZKM – Center for Art and Media, Karlsruhe, Germany.
September Horse, Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin, Germany.
Centre of Attraction, 8th Baltic Triennial of International Art, Vilnius, Lithuania.
collection 2000+, ZKM Center for Art and Media, Karlsruhe, Germany.
2001
Small talk, Museum for Contemporary Art, Skopje, Macedonia.
Trbu dell’arte, Galleria Comunale di Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Rome, Italy.
Communication between the arts, The 1st Valencia Biennial, Valencia, Spain.
Parasite, Stichting SKOR, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Water proof, Stichting Fort Asperen, Acquoy, Netherlands.
Body and the east, Exit Art Gallery, New York City, USA.
Vulgata, Museum of Modern Art, Ljubljana, Slovenia; Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, Berlin, Germany.
2000
L’Autre Moitié de l’Europe, Galerie nationale du Jeu de Paume, Paris, France.
2000+ Arteast Collection, Moderna galerija – Metelkova, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
…incommensurabilis…, Galerija Skuc, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
1999
Reality and fiction, Kunsthalle Faust, Hannover, Germany.
After the Wall, Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden.
1998
Body and the East. From the 1960s to the Present, Moderna Galerija, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
1997
It’s a Better World, Secession, Vienna, Austria.
1996
Manifesta I, Rotterdam, Netherlands
Fernbedienung – Does television inform the way art is made?, Grazer Kunstverein, Steirischer Herbst 96, Graz, Austria.
Interpol, Färgfabriken, Stockholm, Sweden.
For the Museum of Contemporary Art Saraevo 2000, Museum of Modern Art, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
1995
ARS 95, Nykytaiteen Museo, Helsinki, Finland.
Kräftemessen, Künstlerwerkstatt, Munich, Germany.
Zeitgenössische Fotokunst aus Moskau, Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, Berlin, Germany.
1994
The Hamburg Project, Contemporary Art Center, Moscow, Russia.
Europe 94 – Junge Europäische Kunst in München, Munich, Germany.
1993
Europaer, Steirischer herbst Festival, Grazer Stadmuseum, Graz, Austria.
Monumental Propaganda, Central House of Artist, Moscow, Russia; Courtyard Gallery of the World. Financial Center, New York City, USA.
1992
3rd Istanbul Biennial, Istanbul, Turkey.
Public collections
Museum van Hedendaagse Kunst Antwerpen, Antwerp, Belgium.
Nomas Foundation, Roma, Italy.
Centre national des arts plastiques, Paris, France.
Sammlung EVN, Maria Enzersdorf, Austria.
Moderna Galerija Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Museum of Contemporary Art Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia.
National Center For Contemporary Art – Moscow Branch, Moscow, Russia.
Russian Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia.