Misha Illin

“Several years ago, I left Moscow to pursue my life as an artist in the US, becoming what is termed a ‘culturally relocated person’—one who abruptly yet voluntarily relocates to the West. Born in Protvino, an off-the-map research city in Russia, and summering in Mordovia, a place known more for its prisons than scenery, I realized that the quiet orderliness of Protvino and ubiquitous penitentiaries of Mordovia became more than just receding footnotes in my life narrative. These facts of my biography—random yet rhythmic, mundane yet uncanny, closed yet infinitely open—taught me to see beyond the apparent and seeded my artistic interest in humanity’s reaction to environments of overwhelming control.”

Misha Ilin (he/him) studied art at the National Center for Contemporary Art in Moscow. In 2016 he moved to the United States to pursue his art career and received his MFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) in 2019. Misha has recently exhibited at M+B Gallery, Los Angeles; the kitchen, Berlin; Modern Art Museum, Shanghai; and Washington Project for Arts, DC, among other venues. Misha is a current fellow of the Hamiltonian Fellowship, DC.

He lives and works in New York.

Photo courtesy of Misha Illin