INSPIRED FOR LIFE
When I was 6 or 7 years old growing up in Moscow, some 30 years before the experience made its way into the consciousness of my journey, I liked to “play secrets”. As an only child I had to occupy myself somehow and that game was as good as any because I could easily do it on my own. It involved wrappers for chocolates. The ones that you’ve managed to consume of course! The better chocolates – the more intricate were the wrappers. The best were the ones with the picture in the middle (it could even be a tiny replica of some famous Russian masterpiece hanging at Tretyakov Gallery) and the silver lining. After spending hours on folding them, still smelling of chocolate, just right, completed with the silver design of the lining leaf, you had to hunt for another essential element of a “secret”. That would be a piece of glass. The beer bottled ones, amber in color were the most magical. Then you had to bury the folded wrapper with the glass on top in the shallow grave of the playground’s dirt. That was a “secret”. The magic happened when the young “artist”, on all fours and with her nose close to the ground, started to push the dirt away with a single finger in a slow circular motion, clearing the tiny window of colored glass…. What a transformation! In the first shock of discovery it takes you a while to comprehend what you are actually seeing…..Then it sinks in: a mystery of the familiar….And the feeling! Of wonder, of revelation! I think that all my life I am chasing that feeling – the mystery to be discovered. That instantaneous shift of reality, the recognition of magic.
Elena Zolotnitsky
Exhibitions
born: 1961, Moscow, Russia
education: MFA from the Moscow University of Cinematography, 1987
awards, grants, residencies:
2008 Jerome Caja Terrible Beauty Award
2007 Award of Excellence, Cash Prize at Northern National Art Competition, Nicolett College, WI
Best in the Show, Cash Prize at Loyola National Works on Paper, Chicago, IL
2005 Award of Excellence: 46th Communication Arts Annual Illustration Exhibition, CA
Full Fellowship from Helene Wurlitzer Foundation, Taos, New Mexico
Best in the Show “Dimensions 2005”, 40th National Exhibition, Winston-Salem, NC
Award of Excellence: SDAI 48th International Exhibition, San Diego, CA
2003 Full Fellowship from Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, Vermont
1997 Grant from the Paul Beckett Foundation, Denmark / Spain
1995 Gold Medal: Mid-Atlantic Watercolor Exhibition, Baltimore, MD
1994 Merit Award: 36th Annual Illustration Exhibition, Society of Illustrators, NY
1993 Merit Award: 27th Annual Illustration Exhibition, Society of Publication Design, NY
selected exhibitions:
2021 “ENCHANTED” SHOH Gallery, Berkeley, CA
2020 “PEOPLE+PLACES+THINGS” Bryant Street Gallery, Palo Alto, CA
“SEMPRE” STICKS, Berkeley, CA
“QUINTESSENCE” Andra Norris Gallery, Burlingame, CA
“31 WOMEN” Whitney Modern, Los Gatos, CA
“ART OF QUARANTINE” SHOH Gallery, Berkeley, CA
“LOOK” Andra Norris Gallery, Burlingame, CA
2019 “Summer Medley” STICKS, Berkeley, CA
3 artists Show, North Berkeley Investments, Berkeley, CA
2018 “METAMORPHOSIS” Andra Norris Gallery, Burlingame, CA
“BECOMING” STICKS, Berkeley, CA
2017 “Big Show of Small Works” Group Show Andra Norris Gallery, Burlingame, CA
“R E V E R I E” Sticks Picture Framing & Art, Berkeley, CA
“Full Circle” The Club Gallery, Claremont Hotel, Berkeley, CA
2016 29th Annual National Competition, Nicolet College Art Gallery, Rhinelander, WI Juror Jeanine Coupe Ryding
50/50 8th Annual Exhibition at Sanchez Art Center, Pacifica, CA. Juror Brian Gross
“Fragmented” Gallerie CITI, Burlingame, CA
“100 Years of Coca-Cola” World Traveling Exhibition. Art from Coca-Cola Co. Collection
2015 “Evoked” Pryor Fine Art Atlanta, GA
2014 “Emotive” Gallerie CITI, Burlingame, CA
“Urbana” Group Exhibition, Gallerie CITI, Burlingame, CA
SFMOMA Artists Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2012 “Modern Masters of Contrast, Composition and Form” Pryor Fine Art, Atlanta, GA
“Seen” Visual Aid presents MONCA: Works by David Park, Nathan Oliveira, Richard
Diebenkorn, Mel Ramos, Elena Zolotnitsky, San Francisco, CA
“Sin and Redemption” SFMOMA Artists Gallery, San Francisco, CA
“Berkeley Civic Center” in conjunction with Berkeley Art Center and KALA, CA
“Scapes” Solo Show, Paul Mahder Gallery, San Francisco, CA
“Introductions 2012 – CA Realists” Statewide Juried Competition (Juror’s 5 top p°icks),
ArtZone 461 Gallery, San Francisco, CA
“Introductions” Group Show at Selby Fleetwood Gallery, Santa Fe NM
“Painting Only” Juried State Competition, Pacific Art League, Palo Alto, CA
2011 “Introductions” Group Show at Pryor Fine Art, Atlanta GA
“Zolotnitsky@Bucci’s” Emeryville, CA
“Holiday Show” Paul Mahder Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2010 Nieto Fine Art, San Francisco, CA
Fontbonne University Fine Arts Gallery, St. Louis, MO
2009 Paul Mahder Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2008 Paula Anglim Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2007 Micaela Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Rotunda Gallery, USF School of Law, San Francisco, CA
2006 Franklin Bowles Gallery, San Francisco, CA
SFMOMA Artists Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA
San Diego Art Institute, 48th International Exhibition, San Diego, CA
2005 Barbara Anderson Gallery: “Closer”, Berkeley, CA
2002 Vorpal Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2001 SFMOMA Artists Gallery, Four-artist show, San Francisco, CA
1999 Museum of American Illustration, SPD Gala Annual, New York, NY
James E. Lewis Museum of Art, Morgan State Univ. Baltimore, MD
Sloane Gallery, Denver, CO
1997 Springfield Art Museum, Watercolor USA Honor Society, Springfield, MO Lancaster Museum of Art, Lancaster, PA
Russian Embassy, Washington, D.C.
1996 Hodson Gallery, Hood College, Frederick, MD
1993 Galerie Francoise, Green Spring, MD
1992 Zimmerli Art Museum, Norton Dodge’s Collection of Soviet Art, Rutgers University, NJ
selected publications:
2017 American Art Collector
2015 American Art Collector, November Issue, page 10
Palo Alto Daily Post 2/27/2015, Palo Alto CA
The Atlantan : Modern Luxury Living, // February issue, Atlanta GA
Milieu, February issue, Atlanta GA
Studio Visit Magazine, Volume 28
2014 The Art Of The Portrait, Journal of the Portrait Society of America, issue # 65, page 11
The Studio Work Blog \\ Studio Visit, interview with Elise Morris
2013 Architectural Digest July Issue 2012
The Ritz – Carlton Magazine October Issue, page 40
Lilith Magazine Summer Issue, page 16
American Art Collector May Issue, pages 23, 85
Art & Antiques May Issue, page 19
Southwest Art Magazine January Issue, “Art of the Figure”
Studio Visit Magazine, volume 21
2011 Great River Review Cover Art for Summer/Spring Issue, Anderson Art Center, Minnesota
2009 Etnosfera Magazine: “Elena Zolotnitsky: Creativity-Is a Personal Affair” by Yulia Goryacheva, Moscow, Russia
2008 7×7 San Francisco Magazine: “Watch This Space” by Christine Ryan
2005 46th Annual Communication Arts, p.107
2004 Green Mountain Review: Cover, Vol. XVII, No. 2
2003 Baltimore Magazine: “A Selection of Contemporary Russian Artwork” by John Lewis,
February Issue pp. 122-123
2001 BOA Editions Limited: Cover for Parphenope by Michael Waters
2000 NY Times Book Review Cover: “Thus Spake Beowulf” February 27th
1999 BOA Editions Limited: Cover for Dusty Angel by Michael Blumenthal
1997 “Painting Composition” Rockport Publishers: Award of Distinction “The Best of Watercolor 2” Rockport Publishers: Award of Distinction Intelligencer Journal “Happenings”, March Issue: “Bold or Fractured, Images From Women’s Selves” by Jennifer Knopf. Cover Story on “Creating Women”, Lancaster Museum of Art, PA
1996 Frederick Gazette: “Six Very Good Reasons To See ‘Made in the USA’” by Richard Lebhers on the Exhibition of Selected Former Russian Artists
1995 The Artist’s Magazine: “Rising Watercolor Stars” by Bebe Raupe, October Issue pp. 60-65. An Art Review featuring the top winners from 10 of North America’s most prominent Watercolor Societies
1993 The Baltimore Sun March 11: “Zolotnitsky’s Blend Humor and Grimness, Go Figure” by John Dorsey. Art Review on the two-person exhibition at Galerie Francoise, Baltimore, MD
1992 The Columbia Flier December 17th: “Two Russians make their points at CAC” by Mark Giuliano on a two-person exhibition
Museum & Corporate Collections:
Norton Dodge Collection of Soviet Art at Zimmerly Art Museum,
Rutgers University, NJ
MONCA (Museum of Nothern California Art), CA
COCA -COLA Co., Atlanta, GA
Awards
2014 Portrait Society of America, 3rd place winner Members Only Competition,
Still Life Category
2013 Full Fellowship at the Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, Vermont
2008 Jerome Caja Terrible Beauty Award, Visual Aid, San Francisco, CA
2007 Award of Excellence, Cash Prize at Northern National Art Competition,
Nicolett College, WI
Best in the Show, Cash Prize at Loyola National Works on Paper, Chicago, IL
2005 Award of Excellence: 46th Communication Arts Annual Illustration Exhibition, CA
Full Fellowship from Helene Wurlitzer Foundation, Taos, New Mexico
Best in the Show “Dimensions 2005”, 40th National Exhibition, Winston-Salem, NC
Award of Excellence: SDAI 48th International Exhibition, San Diego, CA
2003 Full Fellowship from Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, Vermont
1997 Grant from the Paul Beckett Foundation, Denmark / Spain
1995 Gold Medal: Mid-Atlantic Watercolor Exhibition, Baltimore, MD
1994 Merit Award: 36th Annual Illustration Exhibition, Society of Illustrators, NY
1993 Merit Award: 27th Annual Illustration Exhibition, Society of Publication Design, NY
