Biography

Statement

"Beauty always offers its own form of seduction"
— Elizabeth George

Beauty is my inspiration. Over the past few years my art has become increasingly personal and intimate, focusing more on the raw physicality of painting. My favorite medium is oil paint, either on canvas, board or on heavy paper. I use a lot of gold leaf. It increases my spectrum of flatness and brings in more drama in shape. As I build layer upon layer of contrasting hues and textures, I am driven more by my pursuit of the formal concerns of painting instead of by my desire to relate a narrative. Yet I remain always a figurative artist, one who feels a special affinity for the craft, subtlety, and peace of Flemish art and the art of Balthus.
My goal is to create paintings that are both well-crafted and probe deeply into the mystery of the medium itself, widening the spectrum of that which is portrayed. Painting for me is the magic act, when the combination of oil paint, a bit of imagination and a lot of heart create something alive that other people can relate to on emotional level. And that is what art does, I think - it transforms energy of labor into feelings.

Artistic Biography

Elena Zolotnitsky was born in Moscow, Russia in 1961. She graduated The Moscow College of Art School of Cinematography in 1987 with the MFA in Fine Art. She immigrated to the United States in 1990.
Now Elena lives in the Bay Area in California. She have been a recipient of numerous grants and awards of professional recognition over the years of her career. She was just recently awarded a show at Gallery Paule Anglim (August 2008), the most prestigious Gallery in San Francisco. Elena Zolotnitsky showed at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (San Francisco) and was represented by Franklin Bowles Gallery (San Francisco) for the last 2 years. She was commissioned a Cover Art for the NY Times Book Review (“Thus Spake Beowulf”, Feb.27th, 2000), was selected for the Annual Communication Arts (2005) and was featured in the 7x7 San Francisco Magazine (November 2008), as one of the prominent 14 Bay Area Artists.

Awards, grants, residencies:

2008 Visual Aid’s Jerome Caja Terrible Beauty Award, 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

solo exhibitions:

2009 Paul Mahder Gallery, Sam Francisco, CA
2006 Franklin Bowles Gallery, San Francisco, CA
B. Boeltz Gallery, Denver, CO
2005 Barbara Anderson Gallery: “Closer”, Berkeley, CA
2004 Open Studios, ArtSpan San Francisco, CA
2003 Bucci’s, Emeryville, CA
2002 East Bay Open Studios, Berkeley, CA
2001 Addison Street Windows, Sponsored by the Berkeley Civic Arts Commission, Berkeley, CA
2000 Albatross, Berkeley, CA
1998 Harbor Square Gallery, Rockland, ME
1997 Russian Embassy, Washington D.C., curated by Diane Beal

selected group exhibitions
:
2008 Two Artists Show, Paule Anglim Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2007 Loyola National Works on Paper, Crown Center Gallery Loyola University of Chicago,
juried by Dan Addington, Director of Gwenda Jay/Addington Gallery, Chicago IL
Northern National Art Competition, juried by Allan Peterson, Nicolett College, WI
Micaela Gallery: “Salon d’Ete 2007”, San Francisco, CA
Rotunda Gallery, USF School of Law, curated by Saiko Matsumaru. San Francisco, CA
Paul Mahder Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2006 SFMOMA Artists Gallery: “Finding the Figure”, San Francisco, CA
2005 20th Annual Conservatory Art Classic, juried by Tony Eubanks, Clifton, TX
Micaela Gallery: “Salon d’Ete 2005”, San Francisco, CA
“Dimensions 2005” 40th National Exhibition juried by Phillip Koch, Winston-Salem, NC
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts: Visual Aid at 16, San Francisco, CA
San Diego Art Institute: 48th International Exhibition, juried by Derrick C. Cartwright, Director of the San Diego Museum of Art
Market Street Gallery: “Erotic Art Show”, San Francisco, CA
2004 Blue Room Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Barbara Anderson Gallery: “Works on Paper”, Berkeley, CA
ARTWALK at the Embarcadero Center, curated by ArtSpan, San Francisco, CA
2003 Catharine Clark Gallery: SPICE Visual Aid Artists, San Francisco, CA
San Diego Art Institute: 46th International Exhibition, San Diego, CA
2002 Vorpal Gallery: “Beaux & Eros”, San Francisco, CA
2001 SFMOMA Artists Gallery 4 Artist Show, San Francisco, CA
Vorpal Gallery: “The Year 2001- Art Odyssey”, San Francisco, CA
1999 Museum of American Illustration: SPD Gala Annual, New York, NY
Art Expo: Finalists of the Art Calendar Magazine’s Competition, New York, NY
James E. Lewis Museum of Art, Morgan State University, Baltimore, MD
Sloane Gallery, Denver, CO
1997 Springfield Art Museum: Watercolor USA Honor Society, 6th Biennial Exhibition
“Maryland Artists” Government House, Annapolis, MD
Lancaster Museum of Art: “Creating Women”, Lancaster, PA
1996 Eastern New Mexico University: “Form and Metaphor”
Hodson Gallery: “Made in the USA”, Hood College, Frederick, MD
1995 Regional Mid-Atlantic Watercolor Exhibition, Baltimore, MD
1994 Zenith Gallery, Washington D.C.
1993 New York City Public Library: SPD Gala Annual, New York, NY
Galerie Francoise, Green Spring, MD
1992 Zimmerly Art Museum: Norton Dodge’s Collection of Soviet Art, Rutgers University, NJ

selected publications:
2008 7x7 San Francisco Magazine: “Watch This Space” by Christine Ryan.
November Issue p.120
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: “Zolotnitskys 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 at Columbia Arts Center, Washington D.C.