Vladimir Levashov

«Art Magazine: Do you think that artists need to be tolerated more, forgiven more than others? VL: I think everyone should treat each other as tolerably as possible. But artists are more likely to be people than anyone else. Art is an existential activity » (Vladimir Levashov, Interview for the "Art Magazine")

«No one has ever been able to improve anything in culture just by substituting something clearly bad for what he considered to be good. Flowers to grow humus is needed. History is too diverse and contradictory, and the degree of uniqueness of our decisions is directly proportional to the limitations of knowledge, skills and experience. The more extensive their resource, the more options and more doubts. But for some reason, we want all the same all the time. Of course, it’s "good" one. And as a result, we get a dull monoculture but not a rich spectrum of various, different and contradictory things. In other words, all that is a rich landscape, and not a desert with stunted oases » (Vladimir Levashov. Bad good photo or photographers and artists. For Photographer.ru)

Russian art and photo critic, contemporary art curator, historian of photography, art director of Stella Art Foundation.

Vladimir Levashov graduated from Moscow State University, art theory and art history department of the historical faculty. In 1991-1992 Vladimir together with Viktor Miziano became curators of Moscow Center for Contemporary Art on Bolshaya Yakimanka. Worked as an art director of the Gallery 1.0 from 1991 to 1995.

In 1994 curated Russian pavilion on San Paolo Art Biennale as well as the first Russian media art exhibition NewMediaTopia.

Since 2004 Vladimir Levashov has become the art director of Stella Art Foundation: curated a lot of foundation exhibitions including Ruin Russia (Parallel Program of the 52th Venice biennale), That Obscure Object of Art (Parallel Program of the 53th Venice Biennale).

The author of books ‘Photocentury. A very short history of photography for recent 100 years’, ‘Lectures on the history of photography’ as well as numerous publications on contemporary art and photography.