Genia Chef

Genia Chef (born Evgeny Scheffer, January 28, 1954, in Aktjubinsk, Kazakhstan) is a German-Russian artist known for his work in painting, graphic art, and installations. He is considered the founder of Post-Historicism, an art movement that blends traditional techniques with experimental aesthetics and reinterprets historical and contemporary events through new mythologies.

Chef studied at the Moscow Polygraphic Institute from 1972 to 1977, where he specialized in painting and graphic arts. He later moved to West Germany in 1985 and continued his studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna under Arik Brauer, earning a Master of Fine Arts degree and the prestigious Fueger Gold Prize in 1993.

His early career was shaped by participation in the Moscow nonconformist art scene, where he exhibited alongside artists such as Viktor Pivovarov and Anatoly Zverev. Chef’s work often features historical figures like Lenin, Tolstoy, and Gorky, reimagined in surreal Mediterranean landscapes, and explores themes of memory, myth, and transformation.

Chef has exhibited internationally, including solo shows at the State Russian Museum in St. Petersburg, and participated in the Venice Biennale. His installations, such as Dead House and Pavilion Telluria (with writer Vladimir Sorokin), reflect his interest in historical narrative and philosophical inquiry. More recently, he has developed the concept of the “New Renaissance Man” and collaborated on the idea of an “Academy of Immortality,” inspired by scientific research into aging.

He currently lives and works in Berlin.