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Yury Shabelnikov was born in Taganrog on 24 December 1954. He studied at the children’s art school with Leonid Stukanov. In 1977, Shabelnikov enrolled in the art and graphic design department of the Rostov Pedagogical Institute, but two years later, for political reasons, transferred to the Mitrofan Grekov School of Art, where he met Avdei Ter-Oganian and studied with Nikolai Konstantinov, Alexander Kislyakov and Vasily Slepchenko. From 1982 to 1995, Shabelnikov taught at a children’s art school in Taganrog and collaborated on a programme for teaching composition. He also worked on stage designs for rock festivals. In 1990, Shabelnikov was hired as a set designer at the Anton Chekhov Theatre of Drama in Taganrog. From 1982 to 1991, he worked primarily with painting, but began to apply Conceptualist methods in his work in 1991. Shabelnikov took part in most of the exhibitions of Art or Death, as well as several exhibitions at the gallery on Tryokhprudny Lane. He settled permanently in Moscow in 1995. Yury Shabelnikov lives and works in Moscow.