Yelena Yemchuk, Bio

Dactyl Projects:
2008 “Notes on Fantômas”, painting exhibition
2008 “Notes on Fantômas”, opening reception
2008 “Notes on Fantômas”, private preview
2007 Studio visit
2004 “Sensitive”, exhibition of paintings
2004 “Sensitive”, opening reception
2002 “Phenomena+Existence No. 1”, photography exhibition
2002 “Phenomena+Existence No. 1”, installation

Bio
Yemchuk grew up in Kiev, in the midst of a collapsing Soviet Union. While she describes her childhood as “wonderful and normal,” she cites “the darkness of the Russian soul” as a major influence in her work. Her recollections of childhood — the eight-story walk up an unlit staircase to her family’s apartment, and playing hours on end in a deep forest alone — each have an unsaid connection to the clandestine adult worlds that she could only fantasize about as a child. When she left Ukraine at eleven, she was told they could never come back, and, at the time, she couldn’t grasp entirely why. However, she did return in 1997 and continues to visit every year.

Yemchuk is a multi-talented artist based in New York. She is known for her fashion photography contributions to a myriad of Vogues around the world, ID and W magazines and worked on campaigns such as Kenzo and Dries Van Noten. She has exhibited her photography work widely. She had her first painting solo show at Dactyl in 2004 and a photography exhibition at Dactyl in 2002.

Born in Kiev Ukraine, former Soviet Union
1990s Parsons School of Design, New York, NY majoring in fine art and graphics
1990s Art Center, Pasadena, CA, majoring in photography

Selected Solo Exhibitions
2001 “No Vacancy,” Eastwick Galley, Chicago, IL
1995 “Ipolits Dream,” Swell Gallery, Los Angeles, CA

Selected Group Exhibitions
2004 “Strictly Visual” Lois Lambert Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
2003 “all in lowercase” Australian Centre of Photography, Sidney, AU
2002 “Duel Eye Tour,” Sotheby’s, New York, NY
1997 “Images of Maritime in Photography,” G. Ray Hawkins Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1996 “The Presence of Grace,” Seven Sanctuaries Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1995 “The Year of the Women,” El Pueblo Gallery Los Angeles, CA
1994 “Prognosis,” Radost Gallery, Prague, Czech Republic

Publications
Encyclopedia of Clothing and Fashion, Valerie Steele, Editor (Charles Scribners)
Visionaire 41 (World)
Vaugh Oliver Visceral Pleasures (Booth-Clibborn Editions)

Collectors
The Assa Family
Carol Cole
Jason Dill
Michael J. Dill
Pilar Demann
Steve Golen
Stacey Lefton Glick
Dorothy Hersey
Marianne Faithfull
Frank Mancuso Jr.
Bonnie Winston
Julia Reed
Paul Lewakowski
Corinne Karr
Jeannette Barry
Camell Ehlke
Julie Zeger
Jane Bradbury

Album Covers
2000 “Machina / The Machine of God” by Smashing Pumpkins, EMI Int’l/Virgin Records, Art Director
1998 “Adore” by Smashing Pumpkins, Virgin Records, Art Director / Designer / Photographer
1997 “Beauty Process: Triple Platinum” by L7, Warner Brothers, Photographer
1997 “Savage Garden” by Savage Garden, Sony, Photographer
1996 “Pleasure Club” by James Hall, Geffen Records, Photographer
Music Videos
1996 “Thirty-three” by Smashing Pumpkins, Virgin, Director
1996 “Zero” by Smashing Pumpkins, Virgin, Director

Reviews
Newcity Verve.art March 8, 2001 “Tip of the Week: Yelena Yemchuk,” by Michael Weinstein

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