Alexandra Kriksunova
Art historian and conservator
Collection care · cultural heritage protection · collection management · conservation
For more than 20 years she has worked with museum and private collections in Moscow, Europe and America. From 2002 to 2012 she was a curator and keeper at the State Tretyakov Gallery, where she trained in conservation and began her professional practice. Since 2015 she has lived and worked in Berlin.
She conserves paintings, drawings, works on paper, objects of wood, textile, leather and stone, as well as architectural decoration. A particular focus of her work is the restoration and reconstruction of gilding — from examination and consolidation of the substrate to loss compensation, surface preparation and application of the gold layer, in keeping with the historical technique and character of the object.
She advises museums, galleries and private collectors on collection care, conservation and preservation.
Areas
- Painting
- Canvas and panel supports, grounds, paint layers, varnishes, structural conservation, cleaning and retouching.
- Graphic art, photography and works on paper
- Drawings, prints, books, archival materials, historical and contemporary photographic processes.
- Textiles
- Historic fabrics, costume, embroidery, carpets, fibres, dyes, stabilisation and display.
- Stone, wall painting and architectural surfaces
- Stone, plaster, fresco and other wall paintings, decorative finishes, salts, moisture, consolidation, cleaning and work in situ.
- Ceramics, porcelain and glass
- Manufacturing techniques, glazes, painted decoration, deterioration, bonding, loss compensation and restoration of decorative objects.
- Contemporary art and mixed media
- Plastics, metal, wood, synthetic materials, installations, video, sound, software, artist interviews, replacement of components and preserving the artist’s intent.
Professional experience
- since 2007
Independent consultant on collection care. Conservation of museum, church and private collections in Russia and Germany.
- 2002–2012
State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow. Keeper, curator, project manager, lecturer.
- Department of 20th-Century Graphic Art and Photography: researcher, keeper, curator.
- Digital Archive of Russian Contemporary Art: founding, maintenance, preparation of publications.
- Concept, preparation and management of exhibition projects.
- Permanent display “Soviet and Russian Art 1956–2000”: concept and management of the graphic art section.
- Musealisation of a private collection of Russian nonconformist art: project management.
- Preventive conservation, accompanying international exhibitions (“Sots Art”, Maison Rouge, Paris, 2007).
- 2004–2008
P. L. Kapitsa Memorial Museum, Moscow. Creation of the museum database, consulting, planning and conservation of damaged objects from the archive and art collection.
Education
- 2004–2009
Academician D. S. Likhachev State Research Institute for Restoration and Materials Science, Moscow. Conservation and materials science.
- 1994–2000
Lomonosov Moscow State University. Art history, diploma with honours (magna cum laude).
- 1991–1993
Art training in miniature painting, Moscow.
Educational projects
- 2019
Campus Berlin — educational travel for adults and teenagers. Founder.
- 2018
KriksSchool — art school for children. Founder.
Author of Art Conservation Lab, a practice-based course in the technology, conservation and restoration of art. Leads lecture programmes in Berlin museums.
Publications
- 2005
“Accomplices. Collective and Interactive Works of Russian Art 1960–2000”. State Tretyakov Gallery Publishing.
- 2007–2008
“20th-Century Drawing. Volume 3”. State Tretyakov Gallery Publishing.
- 2007
“Social and Political Art in Russia and China”. State Tretyakov Gallery Publishing.
Languages
Russian, German, English.