Marat Guelman

Gallerist, artist, politician

Nearest event

June 5 - July 5

KVFM - Frankfurt

DAS ALTE HAUS by YURY KHARCHENKO & VITALY KOMAR

Curator

A living record of exhibitions and curatorial projects, tracing Marat Guelman’s gallery practice over time

June 5 - July 5

KVFM - Frankfurt

DAS ALTE HAUS by YURY KHARCHENKO & VITALY KOMAR

Pavel Krisevich: The Blood Grids (Reshetka Krvi)

Meeting with Vladimir Sorokin in Belgrade

28 April – 11 June 2026

PERM GALLERY to Open in Brussels on April 28

23 April – 30 May 2026

First of all, it’s beautiful

16-19 April 2026

Affordable Art Fair

16-19 April 2026

Affordable Art Fair

16-19 April 2026

Affordable Art Fair

16-19 April 2026

Affordable Art Fair

Imaginator

Generative art projects created with AI, exploring new visual languages and narrative forms

First of All, It’s Beautiful

First of All, It’s Beautiful

2025

Bad / Good Jews

2025

Texts

Essays on collecting, galleries, museums and criteria of value in contemporary art

Marat Guelman on the Venice Biennale & the "Cultural SVO"

Marat Guelman on the Venice Biennale Protest, Mikhail Shvydkoy, and the Ethics of Art

Marat Guelman: "First of all, it's very beautiful"

May 3, 2026 — Marat Guelman. Interview from May 1, 2026. Brussels

Marat Guelman & Philippenzo: AI and the Future of Art

March 6, 2026 — Marat Guelman and Philippenzo on Image Generation and the Future of Contemporary Art

Marat Guelman: Apologizing to Alexander Sokurov

May 8, 2026 — Guelman Apologizes to Sokurov. The Venice Biennale Scandal

Marat Guelman: Art, "Useful Idiots," and the Strategy of Fear

The Venice Biennale Controversy — A Debate on Boycotts, "Useful Idiots," and Alternative Flags

Marat Guelman: Why Moldova Was Always Part of Global Art

Marat Guelman on the "Moldova — Radicants" Project, Cultural Integration, and Returning a Debt of Honor

Marat Guelman: Art, Flags, and the Sliphle of Freedom

Marat Guelman on Pugacheva, "The New Quiets," Flags, and Putin

Marat Guelman: Russian Art, Venice, and the Anti-War Mission

June 2, 2026 — Sokurov, Zvyagintsev, and Venice. The Tricolor. Elections in Armenia. Live with Marat Guelman

Marat Guelman on Kiriyenko, the Opposition, and Ukraine

June 5, 2026 — Marat Guelman on Kiriyenko, the Opposition, and Ukrainian Maidans: A Detailed Conversation

Marat Guelman: Murder of an Artist is Kremlin's Fear Strategy

Marat Guelman on the Murder of Semyon Skripetsky, Kremlin's Strategy of Fear, and the Limits of Art

Marat Guelman: Kremlin Banned from the Venice Biennale

Marat Guelman on Art-Washing, the Venice Biennale Protests, and the Split of Russian Elites

Marat Guelman: Activism, Yashin’s Party, and Z-Art

June 22, 2026 — Activism, Yashin’s Party, and Z-Art. Live with Marat Guelman

Marat Guelman: Bad / Good Art — How We Evaluate Art

Lecture by Gallerist Marat Guelman: "Bad / Good Art — How We Evaluate Art"

Main: Marat Guelman: Putin's Catastrophe & the Future of Kyiv

Transcript: July 2, 2026 — A CATASTROPHE for Putin If He Lets Ukraine Go! Who Is Misleading Zelensky? Peace by the New Year! Guelman

Marat Guelman: Why Image of the Future Is Stronger Than Money

Transcript: July 11, 2026 — Marat Guelman: On the Kremlin’s Handler for Moldova, the Power Reboot, and Cultural Diplomacy

Marat Guelman: Yeltsin paid the media, while Putin simply seized it

Echo of Moscow, “Personally Yours” (April 2024)

Marat Guelman: Sabotage is the keyword for fighting the regime

Interview: Maxim Kurnikov and Marat Guelman

Marat Guelman: Silence has become a sign of agreement with power

In the midst of the 8th "SlovoNovo" forum in Montenegro, Sobesednik sat down with its founder, Marat Guelman.

Marat Guelman: Revolution in Art, NFTs, and Goodbye to All Brands

Art belongs to time, yes, conventionally speaking. But today, that notion is actually being called into question. At the very least, today is a period when you already...

Marat Guelman: “Art Is Not a Medicine, It Is a Pain”

The interview with Marat Guelman took place almost mid-swim in a picturesque, rocky bay at sunset, where a fatigued Marat Guelman was passionately paddleboarding.

Marat Guelman: Totalitarian power and art are alien to each other

Marat Guelman—gallerist, director of the Art Center in Montenegro, and member of the Anti-War Committee—spoke to Anastasia Izumskaya on the program "Vozdukh" (Air) on the Khodorkovsky Live channel about the conformism of the art community, the "cancellation" of Russian art in the West, the confrontation between art and power, and the tasks ahead of him.

Marat Guelman: Defeat in the war will force society to grow up

Interview with Novaya Gazeta Europe, July 4, 2023

Marat Guelman: “In the future Russia, I would ban myself”

Interview with The Insider, May 16, 2023

Marat Guelman: “We are becoming intermediaries between European and Russian culture”

Interview with the Jewish Center (Jewish.ru), November 22, 2021

Marat Guelman: “I Define Myself as a Humanitarian Engineer”

Dozhd TV Interview, 2018

Marat Guelman: “Putin’s loyalists will begin devouring the Putin regime”

Gallerist and political strategist Marat Guelman is opening a new gallery in the center of Berlin. In an interview with Konstantin Eggert on DW’s show #inTRENDde, he shared his predictions for Russia’s future...

Marat Guelman: “Ultimately, artists interest me more than art”

The West Wing of the New Tretyakov Gallery is currently hosting the exhibition “Marat’s Gift: Contemporary Art from the Guelman Collection.”

The Case of Two Female Artists

I will tell two stories about how chance acts as a producer of an artist's success.The first is about how Marina Abramović won the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale.

Left and Right: A Critique of Success

Yesterday, I read through my discussions from 20 years ago regarding the Russia 2 exhibition. I considered it a success, despite the immense amount of criticism it received—more than usual. It was mostly slammed by the Right.

The Art Fair: Hot on the Heels

A work of art at a fair is out of context. Therefore, you need to prepare materials about... about the artist, the project, and this specific work much more thoroughly than usual.

Women Artists

Sotheby’s has released a report on women artists in the global art market. The share of women artists in the auction market by sales value has more than doubled, from 6.2% in 2018 to 13.8% in 2024.

Market Classifications

An Attempt at Classification: Art Price (Value)

Abstraction

A conversation started about abstraction. It has ceased to be revolutionary; due to the love designers have for it, it has become salon art, but furthermore, it has become a genre.

Rejection of Art

Ed Fleminsky writes that there are three types of "rejection" when it comes to art:

Apology of the Market

This text is unscheduled. And it's not that it is particularly useful, but since the topic pops up constantly in the comments, I will speak out. It is customary to scold the market.

Advice to the Artist

I started writing the main text about artistic quality, and it's somehow big, and clearly I won't finish it today since we decided to drive to Berlin from Belgrade by car.

Answers to Questions 1

I decided that the post with answers should also be integral and possess some independent value. Therefore, it will be about our communication.

How to Love Contemporary Art

A text on how to understand and love contemporary art

What Happened to Criteria in Art

This text may seem vulgar to professionals, but there is no other way to explain it so that it is clear to everyone. Sorry.

About a Museum of Contemporary Art

The museum of contemporary art looks like a temple of the past, but in fact it engineers the future

Consensus

We’re told taste is subjective, but the art world’s uncanny consensus hints at hidden criteria

Text About Galleries

The text about galleries will be extremely practical (it was written under the influence of Ekaterina Schulmann), but first a bit of philosophy.

Text About Markets

Beneath the surface of the art world lies not one market, but many, each demanding its own strategy

You Need to Hang Out

The art world dangles countless shortcuts to fame, but the path that truly works is much simpler

Why Russia produces (and quashes) so much radical art

Artists have always held a special place in Russian society

The gallery: venture business and vision

Why a gallery cannot be bought as a ready-made business, the "five-pointed star" of a gallerist’s activity, and how investing in the "obscure" today yields millions in a decade.

The anatomy of price: how art prices are formed

An analysis of eight criteria for art valuation. How labor, novelty, and museum "disposal" affect the price. Why "old jackets" only get more expensive in the art market.

How to love contemporary art

A practical guide for those ready to unlock the "lock" of their own taste. On co-authorship with the viewer, communicating with artists, and attending mega-events.

The museum: a figure of desire and a gateway to eternity

The museum as the ultimate tool for validating significance. Why entering a museum collection is the only way for an artist to "reach the future."

The quality of art: consensus in an era of chaos

Can one distinguish "good" from "bad" when the old rules are destroyed? Why the answer to "Why?" is more important today than "How?"

Media

A curated index of media coverage: interviews, press reviews, and features on Marat Guelman’s projects and vision.

The Brooklyn Rail

Marat Guelman and the group + - Komma: First of all, it’s beautiful

"Bad / Good Art: How to Judge Art" — Lecture by Marat Guelman

Russian Dissident Art Is Back On View In New York (Not Moscow)

Exiled Putin critic Marat Guelman opens atomic bomb show at Ethan Cohen

Marat Guelman and the group + – Komma: First of all, it’s beautiful

From Curator to Artist: Marat Gelman Fights Fear with a Series of Colorful Nuclear Explosions

@vot_tak YouTube Channel

Marat Guelman: Zhirinovsky as counterculture and a high-demand commodity

The Moscow Times

‘First of All, It’s Beautiful’: Marat Gelman Seeks to Disarm Putin’s Nuclear Threats in New Art Project

16 February, 2020

Marat Guelman: time to give

Why Russia produces (and quashes) so much radical art

Friends

Collaborating with those who share our vision