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Alina and Jeff Bliumis's body of work explores cultural standards, foreignness and national identity through
sculptural installations-often placed in public sphere and incorporative of public dialogue. They were both born abroad, but have been living in the United States for over twenty years. Alina received a BFA from the School of Visual Art, New York and Jeff received a BA from the Columbia University, New York. They started working as a team in 2000. Their early projects were predominantly based on their own experiences of immigration. Over last ten years, their interest has gradually shifted into processing communal experience-defining social structures, considering cultural standards/norms and exploring foreignness as a condition that gives a new perspective to the familiar. Alina and Jeff Bliumis's ongoing anthropological survey has lead them to work with different artistic mediums, from a photographic journey based on Walter BenjaminÕs "Moscow Diary" to the site-specific project "Language Barrier" and the public dialogue project "Casual Conversations in Brooklyn". Alina and Jeff Bliumis's works have been internationally exhibited. Selected shows include the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art (Moscow, Russia), Busan Biennale 2006 (Busan, South Korea), Assab One (Milan, Italy), Castlefield Gallery (London, UK), Andrea Meislin Gallery (New York, USA), Stanislas Bourgain Gallery (Paris, France), Centre d'art Contemporain (Meymac, France), MOCA, Museum of Contemporary Art, Cleveland (Cleveland, USA), Bat-Yam Museum (Bat-Yam, Israel), the Jewish Museum (New York, USA) and the Victoria and Albert Museum (London, UK). Alina and Jeff Bliumis were awarded a number of grants, fellowships and residencies: Franklin Furnace Fund, New York, USA (2010-2011), Six Points Fellowship, New York, USA (Alina Bliumis 2007-2009), Trust for Mutual Understanding, New York, USA (2009 / 2006 / 2005), Black and White Project Space residency, Brooklyn, USA (2009), Art in Public Spaces Grant, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, New York, USA (2008), Strategic Opportunity Stipend, New York Foundation for the Arts, New York, USA (2008), Puffin Foundations Grant, New York, USA (2008), Quartier21 residency, MuseumsQuartier, Vienna, Austria (2005) and Advanced Course in Visual Arts, Fondazione Antonio Ratti, Como, Italy (2005). Their works are in various private and public collections, including the Moscow Museum of Modern Art (Russia), Bat-Yam Museum (Israel), the Saatchi Collection (UK) and the Victoria and Albert Museum (UK).
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