Leo
Mikhailovich Karnaukhov

Artist Lev Karnaukhov (autobiography)

I was born on June 7, 1945 in the city of Ufa. I began to draw when I was four. At the age of seven, he sent to the editorial office of the newspaper "Pionerskaya Pravda" a portrait I had invented (of course, under the title: "Stranger"), the answer came six months later on the letterhead of the editorial office, where they advised me: either to describe a happy childhood and the building of communism, or to stop messing with paper forever. Having bellowed, I still didn’t quit dirtying the paper, but I did it alone and didn’t show it to almost anyone. Until the Ufa Palace of Pioneers opened in 1958, where I enrolled myself in the fine arts studio to the wonderful teacher Vladimir Stepanovich Sarapulov. Now you can share with others. But my irrepressible nature rebelled against regular visits and I only brought my works from time to time. Strange, but I was still treated with great attention and constantly encouraged my searches. Even then, I thought up a lot and almost did not write from nature (I didn’t know how and didn’t want to). And when in April 1961 Yuri Gagarin flew and we all got sick with Space, and I chronically and forever. In 1960, for the first time, I took part in the All-Union Exhibition of Children's Art, where I received the II prize (the first prize was not awarded for some reason, but the second prize was given). Around the same time, my work was selected for an exhibition in India. Then they made me an offer to study in Moscow at VGIK, but for a number of reasons I could not realize this opportunity. Then, at the exhibition of children's creativity in the Palace of Pioneers, I was first asked to give a TV interview. In 1964 I entered the Ufa Music and Pedagogical School at the Art and Graphic Department, where, after studying until 1968 and not completing the course of study, I left for Moscow to enter a university.
Upon arrival, I made an outright attempt to enter the Surikov Institute, but they asked for a diploma and there was a bummer ... The next call was at Stroganovka, I was already a scientist and offered to first look at the work and was immediately admitted to the entrance exams. During the show, they stole something about 20 watercolors from me. I missed one point and began to attend the evening paid department of Surikovsky on Taganka. But after a couple of years I was expelled from Moscow for having connections with anti-Sovietists (Daniel and Sinyavsky). So I got to the Urals in Sverdlovsk, where I continue to live in the city of Yekaterinburg. Here my creativity blossomed in double color and in 1975 I participated in the first regional youth exhibition, where I was presented with 6 works (for some reason, only 5 were posted). Participants of this exhibition automatically got into the youth section of the Union of Artists, and then a year later, the CX itself, however, for negative statements at the closing of the exhibition, my documents were safely lost somewhere between Moscow and Sverdlovsk. Then there were personal and not so much exhibitions in the city, but immediately after 1996 this disgrace stopped due to a number of domestic troubles (living in a room of 13 square meters in a communal apartment with three children).
This continued for the next 17 years until 2013, when almost by force I was persuaded to exhibit in the anti-cafe "Communicator", where I exhibited 74 paintings in five halls. In 2017 he was admitted to the Creative Union of Artists of Russia, in 2018 he was admitted to the Euro-Asian Union of Artists. In 2019 he was accepted as a member of the Union of Russian Artists. After that I exhibit willingly and wherever I am invited. The list of exhibitions is attached.
Lev Karnaukhov.