Masha Menshikova

Mariia Shaburina, (born June 24, 1989), professionally known as Masha Menshikova, is a Russian contemporary artist. She is best known for her traditional European school impressionists landscapes and especially seascape oil paintings. Menshikova is a pioneer in modern contemporary art that depicts the preceptive mood and style of the 21st century.
Menshikova specializes in landscape and still-life paintings and has gained recognition for her oil painting impressionist style techniques. She has professionally exhibited her work for the past 10 years in museums, art centers, college and university galleries, and commercial galleries.
Menshikova is considered a pioneer in modern contemporary art that depicts landscapes in a newer light with a sense of traditional academic manner. She brings to the table a unique and diverse approach to her art that is highly acclaimed.
In the last decade, Menshikova has lived in London, Paris, Costa Brava (Palamos) and is currently based in Naples, South Florida.
==Early life and education==
Menshikova was born in Moscow, on June 24, 1989, and grew up in Vologda. Menshikova has been inspired by local landscapes and real cultural artifacts since she was a child. These became her muses and were later presented in various cycles of shows dedicated to the beauty of nature and elements.
In 2002, Menshikova enrolled in the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration where she studied State and Municipal Management. In 2004, she got the opportunity to work with traditional Russian costumes in “Istoki” fashion theater for "Russian Flax" international Exhibition-Fair.
Later in 2012, Menshikova became a student of Sergey Bryukhanov, a renowned Russian abstract painter, who still, after a decade, is her mentor and consultant. From 2013 to 2014, Masha studied at the Institute of Art Business and Antique in Moscow.
Since 2013 Masha worked on the creation of the decorations and sketched and designed costumes in theater "Non-profit creative association theater-studio" Notre Arche ", St. Petersburg, Russia.
==Career==
Menshikova started her career as an individual contemporary artist in 2012. Ever since then, she has created numerous art installations and paintings that have been featured in museums and exhibitions across the country.
Since 2014 Masha has been also working on mixed media artworks and art installations.
Art Installation ”Moscow Kiss”, dedicated to love, was installed in The Goncharovsky Park, Moscow in 2014. This is an image of a couple in love united in a kiss. In the evening the art object glowed with 1000 small lamps. According to Masha’s vision, the kiss represented the most tender expression of love, their sincere feelings. Hence it was vital for the artist to create an airy, light, and beautiful image. The opening of this art object was scheduled for the World Day of Kisses, the most unusual and positive one among all the international holidays established by the UN.
In the same year, she also decided to continue her education abroad and entered Sotheby's Institute of Art in London, Faculty of Art Business and Art History. 
Menshikova serves as the board advisor of the Museum of Russian Art (MORA), New Jersey, USA, and is also a member of the Creative Union of Artists and International Confederation of Artists.
==Artistic style==
Menshikova’s artistic style is reflective of her perception of how she sees the world's daily wonders. She often tries to bring out a figurative image of people and landscapes by incorporating muted background strokes and creating a romantic glorification of nature's beauty and passing moments.
Menshikova’s portraits and still life paintings are often symbolic and a combination of wry strokes, minimalism, and a reflection of life's smallest elements. She strives to include a large variety of mood tones with a minimum of color hues that accurately express the soul of her paintings in order to create an honest depiction of her perception. 
==Selected Exhibitions==
 
* 2012 – Solo Exhibition “My first exhibition”, Drevo Gallery, Moscow
* 2013 – Moscow International Art Salon “Progress”, Central House of Artists, Moscow
* 2013 – Olive Wood Plein Air, Zakynthos, Greece
* 2013 – XXIII Youth exhibition of Moscow Union of Artists, Moscow
* 2014 – Art Installation “Moscow Kiss”, supported by the Department of Culture, Goncharovsky Park, Lianozovo, Moscow
* 2014 – “Twenty years ago”, Central House of Artists, Moscow
* 2014 – “Attraction of contemporary art”, Secret Art, Moscow
* 2014 – Solo Exhibition “Sea and others”, “Kino” Gallery, Moscow
* 2015 – Charity Auction for “Life Line” Foundation, House on Patriarshii, Moscow
* 2016 – International Kalkan Kalamar Artist Residency, Kalkan, Turkey
* 2016 – Charity Auction for “FACE children in need”, Belgian Ambassador Residence, London
* 2017 – State Museum of Fashion, Gostiny Dvor, "Pre-birth. Second wave" supported by the Department of Culture, Moscow
* 2018 – “Mart Studio” Palamos, Spain
* 2019 – Solo Show “Episodes”, Villamil Contemporary Fine Art, Hialeah, Florida
* 2019 – Collective International Exhibition “Cinemagic”, Art Emporium Gallery, Little Havana, Miami
* 2019 – Miami Art Basel, Miami Art River Art Fair, Miami
* 2020 – Contemporary Art Exhibition 20/20 Visio, MORA, Museum of Russian Art, New Jersey, USA
* 2021 - Cosmopolitan Art Fair, Margo Gallery, New York
* 2021 - Naples Fine Art show, Naples, Florida
==Publications==
* Amanda Rudin, Head of Fashion TV UK and Chief Editor of VV Luxury Lifestyle Magazine, had an interview with Masha Menshikova in 2012 on art, inspiration, and her large-scale creative ideas for VV Luxury Lifestyle Magazine.
* Masha gave an interview for Art Vesti Russian Channel in 2015, in which she discussed her solo exhibition at KINO Gallery in Moscow, as well as other art-related projects.
* Masha's Moscow Kiss art piece was featured on Komsomolskaya Pravda's "Picture of the Day" column. It was also mentioned on the website of Moscow's Department of Culture, as well as in Fiesta, a significant online event journal.
* Catalogue Moscow International Art Salon 2013 “Progress”, Moscow International Art Salon "Central House of Artists-2013" from March 1 to 10, 2013.[14] The theme of the Salon "Process" focuses on the work of young artists (up to 35 years old) and showing the modern world in its versatility, inconsistency and variability in the representations of artists of the XXI century.
==Gallery==
==In the media==
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==References==
==External links==
* Official Website
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Category:1989 births
Category:Russian contemporary artists
Category:People from Moscow
Category:Russian people