05.09.2026 – VERNISSAGE: Youri Jarkikh – Reality of the Unconscious

Works in the exhibition (selection)

Youri Jarkikh

image rights: private

Youri Alexandrovich Yarkikh was born on 16 July 1938 in Tikhorezk in the USSR. After finishing school, he began training with the merchant navy. His artistic talent became apparent at an early age. Consequently, he left the merchant navy in 1961 to study for six years at the Academy of Arts in Leningrad. The years following his graduation were devoted to independent artistic work. The style he developed during this period and his approach to the visual arts did not conform to the official line: authorities refused to exhibit his paintings.

A private group exhibition held in the studio of the Leningrad painter Ovchinnikov in late 1971 was shut down by the police and the paintings confiscated. In 1973, the editorial team of the newspaper *Aurora* exhibited 16 portraits on their premises, at their own risk and without authorisation from the relevant authorities. Once news of this exhibition became public, the editorial office was closed down. On 15 September 1974, the artists’ group, together with Yuri Yarkikh, organised an open-air exhibition on the outskirts of Moscow which caused a great stir. This exhibition too – later known as the ‘Bulldozer Exhibition’ – was forcibly shut down with the involvement of a large number of KGB officers and militiamen, and with the use of water cannons and bulldozers.

By this time, the international community had become aware of such developments in the Soviet Union. Further exhibitions, held in Moscow at the end of September 1974 and in Leningrad at the end of December 1974, were no longer obstructed by the authorities. Following the ‘Bulldozer Exhibition’, Youri Jarkikh, together with other non-conformist painters, founded an initiative group in Leningrad. He led the Leningrad group himself. During a night-time journey from Moscow to Leningrad, Youri Jarkikh was the target of an assassination attempt. He suffered severe burns to his feet and had to be treated in hospital for four months. For half a year, he was under constant medical care. Nevertheless, in September 1975, he organised another exhibition in Leningrad together with other artists. Shortly afterwards, however, his right of residence in Leningrad was revoked. He moved to Moscow. On 22 May 1977, he was arrested there and forced to leave the country. He subsequently applied to emigrate to the Federal Republic of Germany. As he was able to produce an invitation from acquaintances in West Germany, his application was approved in Bonn. In 1978, he moved to France, where he lived and worked until 2022.

Whilst living in exile, Youri Jarkikh had a rather extensive programme of more than 150 exhibitions: in Germany, England, Austria, the USA, France, Italy, Japan, Monaco, Belgium and Switzerland. Later, exhibitions became possible in Russia once again.

To this day, Youri Jarkikh’s work remains closely linked to the questions of artistic freedom, inner independence and the right to one’s own visual language. After many decades in France, the artist has been living and working in Germany since 2022 and is a member of the BBK Nuremberg. His works are held in public and private collections, including the State Russian Museum in Saint Petersburg, the Museum of Modern Art in Paris, the Haus Beda Museum in Bitburg and the Dr Norton Dodge Collection / Zimmerli Art Museum in New Brunswick.

We are looking forward to your visit!

Sincerely
Gabriele Paqué

Note on parking!
Parking in Bonn-Poppelsdorf, about 10 minutes walk from Blücherstraße! 

On Wednesdays and Saturdays the gallery is open from 14:00 – 18:00.
By telephone arrangement, the exhibition can also be visited at other times.
Blücherstr. 14, 53115 Bonn, Germany
Phone: 0228-41076755

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