International Ceramics Studio
NEWS

SERGEI ISUPOV
2 months residency at the studio
November 2007 - January 2008

Born in Stavrapole, Russia, in 1963, Sergei Isupov comes from a creative family.  His mother, Nelli Isupova, is a folk artist working in ceramics and his father, Vladimir Isupov, and younger brother, Ilya Isupov, are painters.  All  three are well known artists in their home city of Kiev, Ukraine. Ceramic artist Sergei Isupov received his art education first from the Ukrainian State Art School and later at the Art Institute of Tallinn, Estonia where he was awarded both a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Fine Arts.

Isupov's porcelain sculptures are figurative, surreal, and often autobiographical. Sometimes combining both animal and human aspects, Isupov's sculptures contrast detailed black and white renderings of people and hybrid animals with colorfully glazed sections. His work in vitreography presents Isupov's fascinating dream world in a two-dimensional format.

His professional career began in 1990, when he participated in the Oslo International Ceramic Symposium in Norway, "USSR Ceramicists," a charity exposition at the Hammer Center in Moscow and in "New Soviet Art" at Fourth Dimension Gallery in San Francisco, California.  Sergei first visited the International Ceramics Studio in 1992 as a participant in the East and West Symposiuim. Isupov subsequently exhibited in group shows in the Baltics, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark and Seoul, Korea before emigrating from Estonia to the United States in 1994.  

Isupov has exhibited work in both solo and group shows in the Baltics, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Korea, and throughout the United States. His work has been collected by museums in Estonia, Russia, Ukraine, Norway, and Hungary. In the United States Isupov's work is in the collections of the Mint Museum of Craft + Design, Charlotte in North Carolina; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; and the Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse, New York; among others.

Isupov exhibits in both solo and group shows throughout the United States.  His work has been collected by museums in Estonia, Russia, Ukraine, Norway and Hungary.  In the United States Isupov's work is in the collections of the Mint Museum of Craft + Design, Charlotte, North Carolina; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse, New York, among others.