Mikhail Margolis

After graduating in Moscow in 1991, Mikhail Margolis moved to the United States, where he developed a passion for art, photography and computing, before settling in France in 2000. There he studied animation, then turned to video art and interactive installation.

His work draws on Russian history and questions contemporary society, humanity’s relationship with nature and the forms inherited from art history. What sets it apart is the pairing of modest materials — paper, cardboard — with miniature screens, computers and small electronic circuits, which lends his devices a handcrafted, playful quality.

At Galerie Charlot, his exhibitions include MISHA MARGOLIS (2011), LA RACINE (2013), GLORY (2016), a virtual reality installation that offers visitors an audience on demand, and HERE WE ARE (2023). His work has also been shown at the Biennale Némo (2009), at Ca’ Foscari in Venice in the exhibition “RUSSIE!” and in a special project of the 6th Ural Biennial (2021).