"Forms should obviously be new, but feelings should obviously be old. Otherwise, "it is all useless" as stated Konstantin Treplev in Chekhov's "The Seagull".
Dmitry Krymov

Dmitry Krymov (1954)

Dmitry Krymov was born in Moscow in 1954 to the family of the legendary Russian theatre director Anatoly Efros and theatre historian and critic Natalia Krymova.

He graduated from the Moscow Art Theatre Studio-School in 1976. Krymov designed more than eighty plays for leading Russian theatres. Since 1990, he has dedicated himself entirely to painting, graphics, stage design and theatre directing.

Krymov's works can be best described as actions or experiments that efface the traditional boundaries between art forms. The artist often uses mixed technique for his expressive pieces that include collage and assemblage.

Krymov takes a mosaic approach, creating a single whole out of small details by choreographing actions in the space of the painting and directing a delicate play of light. His paintings therefore have vibrant colors, offset by the texture and luxurious glimmer of cloth.

He tends to work in series: his works include still lives, scenes from the Bible, a series of retrospective portraits/collages and a gallery of portraits of his contemporaries and friends including Pope Paul II.

He is currently a professor at the Russian Academy of Theatre Arts and the Head of the Experimental Theatre Project of the Union Theatre of Europe. Krymov is a recipient of Stanislavski (2006), Turandot (2007 and 2009) and Golden Mask (2008) awards, the highest theatre achievement awards in Russia. In 2007 he received the highest award for stage design of the Russian Pavilion at the Prague Quadrennial.

In 2007 Dmytri Krymov organized The Krymov Lab, the experimental Designers’ Theatre , characterized by its own peculiar aesthetics. It is conceived by designers, directed by designers, designed by designers (naturally enough), and sometimes even acted by designers. Called by critics a visionary director and artist, Krymov and his Lab conquered the stages of New York, Paris, London, Edinburgh, Australia.

In 2010 his theatrical and artistic project “Tararabumbia” represented Russia at the International Chekhov Theatre Festival. His theatrical creation “A Midsummer Night’s Dream or As You Like it” at the Royal Shakespeare Company has been invited to participate in the theatre program for London Olympics in 2012. His visionary depiction of the tragic life of the famous Russian composer Dmirty Shostakovich in “Opus No 7” earned him rave reviews when performed at the London Barbican Theatre in 2014.

Krymov's works are in public collections of State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow; Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow; State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg; Victoria and Albert Museum, London; Vatican Museum, Rome; World Bank, Washington, DC, as well as in private collections in Russia, France, Germany, Belgium, the United States, Great Britain, Canada and South Africa.

The artist lives and works in Moscow and New York.