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Alexander Melamid

Alexander Melamid (b. 1945) is a Russian-American conceptualist artist and painter, father of hip-hop music video director [a=Dan Melamid], best known as one-half of [a=Komar & Melamid] tandem (1972–2003). He met [a=Vitaly Komar] while studying at Stroganov Institute of Art and Design. Two artists began working in co-authorship around 1967, soon after graduating. Since 1978, Alex Melamid had been living in the USA. In 1972, Komar and Melamid established a new [i]Sots Art[/i] (соц-арт in Russian) movement, combining official 'Socialist Realism' communist aesthetic doctrine with dadaistic and pop-art elements. Their politized art drew the attention of Soviet authorities, as well as the international audience. Komar and Melamid got arrested during one of the performances, and their [i]Double Self-Portrait[/i] was among non-conformist paintings destroyed at the infamous 'Bulldozer Exhibition' in September 1974. Two years later, [l=Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, Inc] in New York hosted Komar & Melamid's first exhibition abroad, in the authors' absence since the Soviet government denied them permission to leave USSR. In 1977, Melamid finally left the country to reconnect with his Jewish relatives in Israel. Soon after, Alex moved to the United States with Vitaly Komar and settled in New York. In 1988, both Melamid and Komar became US citizens. After working together for over 35 years, they dissolved K&M in 2003. Melamid's first solo exhibition, [i]Holy Hip-Hop![/i], was opened at [l=MOCAD (Museum Of Contemporary Art Detroit)] in 2008. The painter's youngest son, [a=Dan Melamid], at the time worked for [l=G Unit] label, shooting music videos for [i][r513162][/i] DVD. Daniel offered his business partner, [a=DJ Whoo Kid], to visit Alexander's studio in SoHo for a portrait. Soon after, [a=50 Cent] posed in the same chair. Intrigued by the rappers' flamboyant fashion choices—luxurious clothing brands, Louis Vuitton backpacks, diamond-encrusted medallions—Alexander Melamid portrayed a dozen of modern hip-hop icons in the pompous "old Masters" style of [url=https://discogs.com/artist/2239113]Velázquez[/url] court portraits: producer and showbiz mogul [a=Russell Simmons], ex-graffiti artist and fashion designer [a=Marc Ecko], and rappers [a=Kanye West], [a=Snoop Dogg], and [a=50 Cent]. In 2011, Melamid co-founded the [i]Art Healing Ministry Clinic[/i] in SoHo, claiming that "healing powers of art" can treat insomnia, impotence, depression, and other physiological and psychological conditions. During an hour-long session, the patients are exposed to the reproductions and on-body projections of masterpieces from [a=Leonardo Da Vinci] to [a=Jackson Pollock], which are supposed to have an immediate [i]DAP[/i], or "Deep-Art-Penetration" effect. Eventually, Melamid opened the [i]Art Healing Ministry[/i]'s Chelsea branch at 130 West 29th Street and became an artist-in-residence for behavior health at Queens Hospital Center in Jamaica, Queens. Alexander Melamid's works had been purchased for the permanent collection by [l=Metropolitan Museum Of Art], [url=https://www.discogs.com/label/72301]MoMA[/url], [l=Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY], [l=Victoria And Albert Museum], and other prestigious museums and galleries. Name variations: Александр Меламид, Александр Данилович Меламид, Alexander Danilovich Melamid, Alex Melamid, Alexander Melamed