Artists
Viacheslav Startchenko
Born in 1970 in Kharkiv. Ukrainian graphic artist, printmaker, and educator. He works in various techniques but gives preference to etching as the most concise and expressive form of graphic art—where maximum artistic depth is achieved with minimal means. The animalistic genre occupies a special place in his work, serving as a way to explore character and inner essence—whether through an animal image or a human portrait.
Education:
1987–1989 — Kharkiv State Art School (Department of Artistic Design)
1989–1996 — Kharkiv Art and Industrial Institute , first in the Department of Industrial Design, then in the Department of Graphics.
Since 1998, he has been a regular participant in local, national, and international exhibitions. Since 2008, he has been a member of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine, serving as Secretary of the Graphic Arts Section of the Kharkiv branch. Since 2009, he has been actively involved in organizing the annual Spring Graphics Exhibition in Kharkiv. In 2018, he began teaching at the Department of Graphic Design at the Kharkiv State Academy of Design and Arts.
Selected Exhibitions:
— Annual International Miniprint Exhibition “Miniprint” ADOGI (Barcelona), since 1998
— 2003 — Exhibitions of young Ukrainian graphic artists in Kharkiv and Nuremberg
— 2004 — Solo exhibition at the Kharkiv Art Museum
— 2005 — National exhibitions in Kyiv: Christmas Exhibition and Picturesque Ukraine
— 2006 — Quadri-flus exhibition, Maestro Gallery (Kharkiv)
— 2007 — Spring Antinomy exhibition (Kharkiv)
— 2010 — Group exhibition at V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University
Leonid Stroganov
Leonid Stroganov is a contemporary Russian graphic artist, master of small forms and bookplates. He was born in 1979 in Leningrad. He graduated from the Faculty of Painting at the St. Petersburg Art School named after N.K. Roerich in 1999, and later from the Institute of Decorative and Applied Arts, Design, and Humanities in 2002. His artistic development was shaped under the guidance of renowned artist Oleg Yakhnin, whom he considers his mentor.
Since 2002, Leonid has been a member of the Union of Artists of Russia. That same year, he began his professional career as a freelance artist, book illustrator, and participant in numerous art exhibitions and performances. In 2006, he completed a residency at the Tamarind Institute (USA), specializing in lithography.
Stroganov’s artistic interests include easel graphics, painting, illustration, and ex libris. He is an active participant in the international congresses of FISAE — the International Federation of Ex Libris Societies. He favors working in etching, lithography, and watercolor techniques.
He is best known for his illustrations of classic literary works — King Lear by William Shakespeare, the Sonnets by Francesco Petrarch, the poem The Gardens by Jacques Delille, and texts by Abram Efros. His illustrations for King Lear were the focus of his graduation project and earned him professional recognition.
Leonid Stroganov has participated in over 70 exhibitions across Russia, the European Union, the USA, Japan, China, and Mongolia. His works are held in prestigious collections including the Hermitage Library, the Russian National Library, the St. Petersburg Public Library, and literary museums dedicated to F.M. Dostoevsky and A.S. Pushkin. His works are also part of collections in the Vologda Regional Art Gallery, the State Museum of Fine Arts of the Republic of Tatarstan, and museums in Oryol, Sakhalin, Chuvashia, and Stary Oskol.
Internationally, his works are found in the Austrian National Library (Vienna), the Malbork Castle Museum (Poland), the Museum of Small Print Graphics in Sint-Niklaas (Belgium), the Museum of Art in Frederikshavn (Denmark), as well as the Tamarind Institute and the Boston Public Library (USA). His exclusive ex libris prints are highly valued by collectors around the world.
Alexander Steshenko
Alexander Steshenko is a Russian graphic artist and architect, born in 1966. He began his artistic education in Novosibirsk, where he studied at the Art School for five years. In 1988, he enrolled in the Novosibirsk State Academy of Architecture and Fine Arts, specializing in the architecture of industrial buildings and structures, and graduated in 1993.
For his diploma and pre-diploma projects, he was awarded a Gold Medal and a Grand Gold Medal. These works were exhibited in architectural showcases in the United States and Canada, and were also published in the professional journal Architecture USA.
During his final years at the academy, he developed a strong interest in etching and printmaking, which became a central focus of his artistic career. He participated in numerous exhibitions in Russia and abroad, including a show in the United States and the 10th Seoul International Print Biennale in 1996.
He held a solo exhibition at the Novosibirsk State Art Gallery, featuring a series of etchings and illustrations inspired by the works of Dante Alighieri, all executed in the etching technique. A catalogue was published for this exhibition. Another solo show was held at the private Le Vall Gallery in Novosibirsk.
In 1997, Steshenko moved to St. Petersburg, where he focused on book illustration for international publishers and continued working in etching. During this period, his work was also exhibited in Japan.
Since 2000, he has been based in Moscow, actively participating in exhibitions across Russia and Europe — including Italy, Germany, and Spain. In 2003, he held a solo exhibition in France at Epreuve d’Artiste, one of the country’s oldest graphic art galleries.
Between 2013 and 2014, he took part in the international printmaking competition and exhibition I Exposición Internacional de Grabado. En Busca del Paraíso Perdido in Spain. In 2016, he was awarded the Grand Prix in the Graphics category at ARTWeek in Moscow.
He is a member of the Creative Union of Artists of Russia.
Nina Kazimova
Nina Kazimova
Born on December 5, 1952, in Leningrad. Graphic artist, etcher, and publisher of limited-edition artist’s books. Widely known as the Queen of Aquatint. Works primarily in the genres of ex-libris, artist’s books, easel graphics, and small-format prints. She has created over 430 etchings, including more than 200 ex-libris.
Kazimova received her early art education at the Zhdanov Palace of Pioneers and the Children’s Art School No. 1 in Leningrad (1963–1970). In 1976, she graduated from the Faculty of Architecture at the Leningrad Civil Engineering Institute. Until the early 1990s, she worked as an architect and designer. In 1985, she began studying etching techniques in the studio of German Pakharevsky. In 1989, she joined the Soviet Lubok Folk Graphics Workshop in Moscow. Since 1991, she has been a member of the Saint Petersburg Union of Artists. Since 1993, she has worked as a freelance artist.
From the 1990s onward, Kazimova has actively participated in international exhibitions, competitions, and biennials. She has received numerous awards and distinctions in Bulgaria, Poland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Canada, France, and Russia. She has been a finalist in prestigious ex-libris competitions dedicated to François Rabelais, Paul Verlaine, the 20th century, and more. Her name appears in several international encyclopedias and monographs, including The Best of the Best in European Ex-Libris (Belgium, 1997) and Contemporary Ex-Libris Artists (Portugal, 2006).
Her works are held in the collections of major museums, including the State Hermitage Museum, the State Russian Museum, the Tretyakov Gallery, and palace-museums in Peterhof and Tsarskoye Selo, as well as in libraries and museums across France, Germany, Italy, Poland, China, Spain, Canada, and the USA. Her works are also part of numerous private collections around the world.
In 2008, she was inducted as a member of the Petrov Academy of Sciences and Arts.
