09/24: Valery Orlov - ForbiddenCity

Valery Orlov (1946) is an artist.

In 1969 graduated from the graphic arts department of the Moscow State Pedagogical Institute. In 1971 - 1980 had worked in I. I. Nivinsky's studio. Participates in exhibitions since 1972. Member of the Russian Union of Artists since 1983. He took to photography in early 80's.

Orlov's works are held in collections of the State Russian Museum, Saint-Petersburg; Pushkin Museum, Moscow; State Tretiakov Gallery, Moscow; Art Gallery of Tyumen; Kaliningrad Art Gallery; Paul Getty Centre, Los-Angeles; Museum of modern Art, Architecture and Photography, Berlin; Educational Centre, Herentahl.

The list of group exhibitions with Orlov's participation exceeds 70 items. The last three were held in Russian Museum's Marble Palace, Saint-Petersburg (1997), Museum of Private collections of Pushkin Museum, Moscow (2000), Galerie am Lindenplatz, Vaduz, Liechtenstein (2000).

"The commentary on Valery Orlov's photographic exhibition was born out of an unfunny Moscow joke: "Mind the closing doors. The next station is China Town, platform on the right, Chinese on the left. On the left - Bei Jing, the Ming and Ching Dynasties, Feng-Shui, Tiananmen Square, the ForbiddenCity, Gugun - the residence of 24 emperors, Bertolucci, World Heritage list, tourists... On the right - Moscow, the Kremlin, World Heritage list, Red Square, and a couple of paces away the artist Orlov on an architectural shoot of doors and windows, bricked-up, painted-over, nailed-up, covered with grilles, the closed city, Gorkii, Vladivostok, Arzamas-16, Magadan, with not a single prisoner in shot..."'(Yu. Avvakumov )