Andrei Roiter

Andrei Roiter’s body of work is fueled by the spectatorial solitude of the itinerant lifestyle. Roiter’s aversion to community stems in part from his childhood in Soviet Russia and the country’s policies related to the manufacture of a national identity, the denial of basic freedoms, and the scarcity of public forums for thought and creativity. After participating in an unofficial arts scene in Moscow, Roiter explains, “Later I realized I wanted to escape from the inertia of society. I saw that to be an artist was not just picture- or image-making but a way of living.” Despite leaving the county during the period of Perestroika, Roiter’s artistic output retains a heavy hint of his Russian past: the recurring green that recalls the pervasive Russian military, the economy of forms and materials reflective of pervasive paucity, and traces of early twentieth century Russian avant-garde influences. His paintings, drawings, objects and installations also bear testimony to travels, epitomized by the incorporation of the camera and other everyday items in many of his works.

Roiter has exhibited widely internationally, including at the State Museum in the Netherlands, the Moscow Museum of Modern Art, the Peggy Guggenheim Museum in Venice, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.