Marat Aleksandrovich GelmanOfficial (in the passport) Latin-graphics spelling of his last name is Guelman as in French. (; ; born 24 December 1960) is a Russian collector, gallerist, and op-ed columnist. The former director of PERMM contemporary art museum in Perm. The deputy director of Channel One from June 2002 to February 2004. A political consultant, a co-founder of the Foundation for Effective Politics, and a member of Russia's Public Chamber (2010–2012 convocation). Gelman has lived in Montenegro since 2014.Guelman, Marat (12 March 2015). "Впереди – только мрак" (in Russian). Радио Свобода.
Biography Marat Guelman was born on 24 December 1960 in Chişinău. His father is the writer and playwright Alexander Isaakovich Gelman. Upon finishing high school 34 in Chişinău in 1977, Marat Guelman went on to study at Moscow Electrotechnical Institute of Communications while working as a mechanic and a sceneshifter at Moscow Academic Art Theater, Sovremennik and Mayakovsky Theatre. He graduated in 1983 earning a degree in engineering.Jones, Taryn (14 November 2012). "Marat Gelman: Bio " Art in Russia.
Guelman worked as an engineer in Chişinău until 1986. After the Soviet era criminal rule on social parasitism was abolished on 1 March 1986, he quit his job to write a novel and to start his own business.
In 1987, Guelman, who had had an interest in art and specifically in contemporary art since his early youth, made his very first art exhibition, displaying the works of Moscow artists in Chişinău.Шевелев, Игорь (29 March 2006). "Галерист на галерах" Деловая газета «Взгляд». The exhibition was a major success, in terms of both publicity and finance. When he came to Moscow to hand over to the artists the paintings and the money earned from sales, Guelman decided to stay in the capital.Morarjee, Rachel (4 November 2011). "An artistic perestroika" Financial Times.
He started his career in arts as a collector,"Марат Гельман: интервью" (in Russian). Arba.ru. however, having made poor choices for his first collection due to lack of experience he had no choice but to acquire the skills of selling artworks thus becoming the first art dealer in the USSR. In 1990, upon finishing his contemporary art studies abroad, he put together a collection of Ukrainian art, which became the core of South Russian Wave exhibition, shown in 1992,Guelman, Marat. "Биография" (in Russian). Дневник Марата Гельмана. which caught the attention of the publicity and resulted in major feedback.(Later Ukrainian artists of the "South Wave" began to exhibit independently under the name Ukrainian New Wave).
Guelman himself describes his path into art and his career in art as a series of accidents. However, he believes this flexibility and open-mindedness in taking chances to be even more important for success than determination.Guelman, Marat. "Воскресная исповедь" (in Russian). Дневник Марата Гельмана.
In 1995, Guelman became one of the creators of the Foundation for Effective Politics (FEP), along with Gleb Pavlovsky and Maxim Meyer.Russian Think Tanks — European Stability Initiative, March 2010
In 2014, Guelman moved to Montenegro to implement cultural projects in this country. That was also the year when Dukley European Art Community residency program was launched by Neil Emilfarb, Petar Cukovic, and Guelman.Muñoz-Alonso, Lorena (9 January 2015). "Russian Dissident Leaves for Montenegro, Plans a New Space" ArtNetNews. The residency program was initially invitation-based, however, it is now open to all artists through an application system. The results of the artists’ work are exhibited on a regular basis. The activities of the residency program have been gradually making significant changes to the cultural status of Kotor, the city hosting the project, and to all of Montenegro. Marat Guelman has chosen this country to further advance and implement his concept of post-economy society and humanitarian engineeringМартынова, Виктория (27 October 2015). "Искусство обязано оскорблять " (in Russian). JugoSlovo.
On 30 December 2021, Russia's Ministry of Justice added Gelman to its list of "foreign agents". While living in Montenegro, Gelman continues to maintain good relations with the artists who have exhibited in his gallery. He and Ukrainian curator Kostyantyn Doroshenko recently drew public attention to Illya Chichkan’s Psychodarwinism project.
On 20 December 2022, he was put on the wanted list under a criminal article, the article is not specified. He visited the Republic of Moldova in 2022 after an absence of 35. He had a meeting with the then Minister of Culture Sergiu Prodan. https://www.mc.gov.md/ro/content/intalnire-la-ministerul-culturii-cu-galeristul-si-colectionarul-renumit-marat-ghelman In 2025 he met with Moldovan president Maia Sandu.https://www.moldpres.md/eng/official/moldovan-head-of-state-meets-manager-of-cultural-projects-from-montenegro-
Guelman openly opposed the Russian invasion of Ukraine.https://web.archive.org/web/20230318103440/https://www.svoboda.org/a/gradom-po-ernstu/31978445.html He supports the accession of Moldova to the European Union.https://radiomoldova.md/p/60124/marat-ghelman-viitorul-moldovei-este-european-trecutul-nu-trebuie-sa-mai-decida-pentru-noi
Guelman Gallery In 1990, Guelman opened his gallery, one of the first Russian private contemporary art galleries. The gallery worked until 2012, changing a few names during its 20-year-long history (Gallery Guelman, M. Guelman Gallery, M. and Y. Guelman Gallery). It also moved three times. From 1992 to 1995, the gallery was based in the Contemporary Art Center in Moscow Yakimanka st., from 1995 to 2007 it was situated in 7/7 Malaya Polyanka st., and from 2007 to 2012 it was set on the premises of Winzavod Contemporary Art Center. Despite the many changes, it was colloquially known as Guelman Gallery all the time"Guelman Gallery" RussianMuseums.Info.
The history of Guelman Gallery more or less depicts the history of contemporary art in post-Soviet Russia. Over the years, the gallery had collaborations with almost every prominent artist of the respective period, from the classics of Moscow conceptualism (Yuri Albert, Igor Makarevich, Vadim Zakharov, Dmitri Prigov), Sots Art (Vitaly Komar & Alexander Melamid, Boris Orlov, Leonid Sokov) and postmodernism (Pavel Pepperstein, Georgy Ostretsov, Evgeny Semyonov) to St. Petersburg "New Academy" artists (Timur Novikov), to the legendary Mitki group, and Moscow action Art (Oleg Kulik, Anatoly Osmolovsky, Alexander Brener, Oleg Mavromati, Avdey Ter-Oganyan, RADEK group), to South Russian Wave (Alexander Sigutin, Arsen Savadov, Alexander Roitburd, Oleg Golosiy), to the pioneers of media art (Blue Soup group, AES+F, Olga Chernysheva, Vladislav Efimov & Aristarkh Chernyshev); and from painters (Yury Shabelnikov, Valery Koshlyakov, Alexander Vinogradov & Vladimir Dubosarsky, Dmitry Vrubel) to photographers (Boris Mikhailov, ladislav Mamyshev-Monroe), architects (Alexander Brodsky, Alexey Belyaev-Gintovt, sculptors (Dmitry Gutov, Grisha Bruskin, Martynchik couple) and artists who work with installations and new media (Irina Nakhova, Vladimir Arkhipov, Blue Noses group"Blue Noses group" Guelman E-gallery. and others)."Культурный Альянс. Проект Марата Гельмана. Художники" (in Russian). Guelman.Ru.
Apart from Russian artists, Guelman exhibited Ukrainian art in his gallery, which was at the very roots of his work as a curator and a gallerist (South Russian Wave exhibition, 1992). A significant share of his collection has always been reserved for Ukrainian art. From 2002 to 2004, there was a local branch of Guelman Gallery in Kyiv,"Guelman Gallery - Kiev" The ArtKey. managed by Guelman's friend and one of the artists featured by the Moscow Gallery, Oleksandr Rojtburd.
Besides, in the early 1990s, Guelman was working hard to bring the post-Soviet art back to the international context. First, he established contacts with New York's leading galleries, which allowed the global art community to have an insight into the art of a large number of Guelman Gallery artists. At the time he also strived to exhibit the international stars in Russia. Amongst other things, during its Yakimanka st. period, Guelman Gallery hosted such landmark events as Andy Warhol’s and Joseph Beuys’s personal exhibitions (Alter Ego, 1994 and Leonardo's Diary, 1994, respectively)."Культурный Альянс. Проект Марата Гельмана. Выставки" (in Russian). Guelman.Ru.
Running major non-commercial exhibiting events in external spaces was another important activity of Guelman Gallery. The list of major events includes Conversion (Central House of Artists, 1993), Dedicated to the VII Congress of People's Deputies of Russia (Central House of Artists, 1993), New Money (State Tretyakov Gallery, 2006), Dynamic Couples (Moscow Manege, 2000), South Russian Wave and NostalgiaУспенский, Антон (17 June 2008). "Живопись в контексте постмодернизма. Южнорусская волна из коллекции ГРМ" (in Russian). Доклад для Русского музея (State Russian Museum, 2000, which marked the 10th anniversary of Guelman Gallery), Russia 2 (Central House of Artists, 2005), St. Pete Folks: Contemporary Art of St. Petersburg (Central House of Artists, 2005), and a number of other events.
The Gallery participated in international exhibition-related events, festivals, and fairs from the very start of its work. In the early 2000s, it took part in some major international fairs such as FIAC (Paris)"Liste des galeries par pays" (*.pdf). FIAC. and ARCO (Madrid). In 1999 it created the project for the Russian Pavilion at Venice Biennale.
In April 2012, Marat Guelman as well as Elena Selina and Aidan Salahova, also among Russia's leading gallerists, announced that they would redesign the operation of their galleries. As a result, Guelman Gallery was closed down. Guelman stated that the main reason behind it was the shrinking of the contemporary art market in Russia due to the general political and economic instability."Марат Гельман подтвердил закрытие галереи на «Винзаводе»" (in Russian). Lenta.ru.
The last event hosted by the legendary gallery was Alexey Kallima's exhibition Consider Yourself Lucky (May–June 2012)."Alexey Kallima Full Biography" Reginagallery.com.
Cultural Alliance In October 2012, Marat Guelman opened another exhibition space in Winzavod Contemporary Art Center,Мачулина, Диана (8 December 2012). "Винзавод. Перезагрузка кластера" (in Russian). Polit.ru. where the now shut down Guelman Gallery used to be. The Cultural Alliance production center specializes in exhibiting art from Russia's regions and the Commonwealth of Independent States in Moscow venues. It has hosted exhibitions representing the contemporary art of Kazakhstan, Izhevsk and Perm.
Turning his attention to regional art was not a mere accident for Guelman: from his very first exhibitions back in the 1990s he has engaged in searching for new artists and bringing them to Moscow. He is the person who "discovered", amongst other artists, the Novosibirsk-based Blue Noses group, as well as many artists from Saint Petersburg, Rostov-on-Don, and Ukraine.