Maria Pleshkova (b. 1986) is a multidisciplinary artist working in photography, video, and writing.
Pleshkova graduated from the Law Faculty of Moscow State University, but her career in law wasn’t long because of her passion for art. Later, she studied Photojournalism at Moscow State University and Short film production at School of Visual Arts (Moscow). She attended the Eddie Adams Workshop (USA) and the International Summer School of Photography (Latvia). Also, constantly learning on her own was and still is crucial for Pleshkova. Her artistic practice was shaped by visual arts, cinema, literature, and philosophy.
Pleshkova’s artworks have been shown internationally, including exhibitions and festivals in Russia, France, Spain, Italy, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Georgia, USA, South Korea, and Brazil. Her works are part of the Moscow Garage Museum of Contemporary Art Library collection, St. Petersburg Manege Central Exhibition Hall Library collection, Tbilisi Photography & Multimedia Museum collection, and numerous private collections.
Her life and art are inseparably connected: she lives her life through her art, making intimate and self-revealing projects. Using her body as the primary medium, Pleshkova pushes the boundaries of self-portraiture.
For Pleshkova, art has always been a means to reconnect the invisible realm and the material world. She explores the Microcosm, the inner universe, and especially the shadow side of the human psyche. She says, “I’ve always been interested in things that are hidden beyond the surface. For me personally, making art is a form of spiritual practice.”
Education
2014 International Summer School of Photography - ISSP (Kuldīga, Latvia)
2012 José Bautista Workshop “Audiovisual possibilities of photo projects” (Moscow, Russia)
2012 The Eddie Adams Workshop (New York, USA)
2011 Michael Ackerman Workshop (Moscow, Russia)
2010-2011 School of Visual Arts (Moscow, Russia): Photojournalism course, Short film productions course
2009-2010 Moscow State University, Faculty of Photojournalism
2003-2008 Moscow State University, Faculty of Law
Residencies
December 2018 Cassis Artist Residency. Cassis, France
October – November 2016 Cité Internationale des Arts. Paris, France
November – December 2015 Cité Internationale des Arts. Paris, France
November 2014 – February 2015 Cité Internationale des Arts (invited by the City of Paris). Paris, France
Collections
Garage Museum of Contemporary Art Library (Moscow, Russia)
Zine Library at Manege Central Exhibition Hall (St. Petersburg, Russia)
Tbilisi Photography & Multimedia Museum (Tbilisi, Georgia)
Private collections in Russia, France, Austria, Switzerland, Czech Republic, USA, Canada
Exhibitions and Festivals
2023 ArtCrush evening projection. Times Square, New York, USA
2023 UNDER-expo (side event Paris Photo Fair). IHAM gallery. Paris, France
2023 Digital Art New Year 2023. NEAL DIGITAL Gallery. Beijing, China
2022 North East South West: Over the Edge. Gallery I. Battistella. San Donà di Piave, Venice, Italy
2022 NFT San Francisco Conference. San Francisco, USA
2022 ArtCrush evening projection. Ghent, Belgium
2022 FILE (Electronic Language International Festival). Galeria de Arte do Sesi, São Paulo, Brazil
2022 Experimental Film and Video 2022 Exhibition. Czong Institute for Contemporary Art (CICA), Gimpo, South Korea
2022 Mirror for a dream. Center of Photography ‘Mart’, Yekaterinburg, Russia
2022 NFT Liverpool 2022. Adelia Art Gallery, Liverpool, UK
2022 NFT Pop-Up Gallery Downtown Zurich. Zurich, Switzerland
2022 So Far, So Near. LAi gallery, Gijón, Spain
2022 It's Magic. A Beyond Experience. LoosenArt Gallery, Rome, Italy
2020 Baltic Book Art Biennale. Saint Petersburg, Russia
2020 Festival of Fine Arts (IFAF). Kranj, Slovenia
2019 Presence. Festival of contemporary photography. Saint Petersburg, Russia
2019 International Meeting on Videodance and Videoperformance. Valencia, Spain
2019 Digital Anthropologies. Berlin, Germany
2018 Dualism. Baltic Book Art Biennale. Saint Petersburg, Russia
2018 Salon de la Photo. Paris Expo. Paris, France
2018 Art-project by Boris Grebeshikov (БГ–явления) at the Yusupov Palace. Saint Petersburg, Russia
2018 Salon de Photographie Strasbourg. Strasbourg, France
2017 Milano Photo Week (evening projection). Milan, Italy
2017 Transizioni, International Festival of Multimedia. Bergamo, Italy
2017 The Best of Russia: Winners Exhibition. Winzavod, Moscow, Russia
2016 Young Russian Photographers 2016: Finalists Exhibition. Puschino, Russia
2016 Evolution of Sight. 1991–2016. For the 25th anniversary of the Union of Photo Artists of Russia / Moscow Photo Biennale 2016. Manege, Moscow, Russia.
2015 3rd Rulet. Multimedia projections in 15 cities of Russia and abroad.
2015 Transizioni, International Festival of Multimedia. Bologna, Italy
2015 La Quatrième Image. Photo Fair. Paris, France
2015 Photovisa, International Festival of Photography. Krasnodar, Russia
2015 Night of Photography (evening projection) at Tbilisi Photo Festival. Tbilisi, Georgia
2015 Young Russian Photographers 2015: Finalists Exhibition. Puschino, Russia
2015 Photo Annual Awards: Winners’ Exhibition. Teplice, Czech Republic
2014 Photography Open Salon. Collectors editions. A retrospective selection. London, UK
2014 La Quatrième Image. Photo Fair. Paris, France
2014 Night of Photography (evening projection) at Tbilisi Photo Festival. Tbilisi, Georgia
2014 Selfie: self-portraits exhibition. Prague, Czech Republic
2014 Photo Annual Awards: Winners’ Exhibition. Teplice, Czech Republic
2014 Silver Camera (best reportage about Moscow): Finalists Exhibition. Moscow, Russia
2013 La Quatrième Image. Photo Fair. Paris, France
2013 Circulation(s). Festival of young European photography. Paris, France
2012 Young Russian Photography 2012 2/2. Reality / Decorations. Saint-Petersburg, Russia
2012 Moscow International Festival ‘Femme Fest’: group exhibition ‘World Without Women’. Moscow, Russia
2012 Photography Open Salon Arles 2012. Arles, France
2012 Young Russian Photographers 2012: Finalists Exhibition. Cheboksary, Russia
2011 Seville European Film Festival, special section (short film “Nearest and Dearest”, stop motion “Dreams”). Seville, Spain
2011 Young Russian Photographers 2011: Finalists Exhibition. Kazan, Russia
2011 Vladimir Vyatkin’s Students Exhibition. Moscow, Russia
2010 Prague through the Eyes of Russian Photographers. Moscow, Russia
2010 New Names. Uglitch, Russia
Awards
2022 Prix de la Photographie, Paris (Px3): Silver Prize - Professional Portraiture Self-portrait
2017 Prix de la Photographie, Paris (Px3): Bronze Prize - Professional Fine Art Digitally Enhanced
2015 Photovisa, International Festival of Photography: First Prize in Multimedia Section
2015 Young Russian Photographers 2015: Laureate
2015 Photo Annual Awards: Honorable Mention
2014 International Photography Awards: Honorable mentions
2014 Prix de la Photographie, Paris (Px3): Silver Prize - Fine Art
2014 Prix de la Photographie, Paris (Px3): Bronze Prize - Portraiture
2014 Photo Annual Awards: Honorable Mentions
2013 La Quatrième Image. Photo fair prize: 2nd prize
2013 International Photography Awards: Honorable mentions
2013 American Photography 29
2013 China International Press Photo Contest: Honorable mention - War & Disaster News Stories
2013 China International Press Photo Contest: Honorable mention - General News Stories
2012 International Photography Awards: Honorable Mention
2012 The Inge Morath Award: Finalist
2012 Young Russian Photographers 2012: Laureate
2012 China International Press Photo Contest: Gold prize - Nature & Environment News Stories
2012 China International Press Photo Contest: Bronze prize - Art Culture & Entertainment News Stories