Boris Uan-Zo-li

Boris Uan-Zo-Li graduated from the Moscow Power Institute in 1962, with a degree in engineering, but despite a successful career as an electrical engineer by day, Boris always felt a strong desire to paint. He enrolled in Moscow Polygraphic Institute and graduated with a master’s degree in Book Illustration in 1969. He spent nights and weekends perfecting his paintings, and developed a unique style, later referred by his friends half-jokingly as “Uan-Zo-lism”.

“I grew up in a totalitarian country. I had three strikes against me. I was a Jew. I was Chinese. And my father was in jail as a political prisoner and a Jew. All my life I did not fit in– not that I truly tried to. As a man with a Chinese name and Chinese features, I was not a stereotypical Jew. I wasn’t even considered a Jew by the Jewish community because my mother was not Jewish. But for the government authorities, I was a Jew, one who had to be kept in check, kept from becoming“too successful”. I was an engineer, and a very good one – I authored 165 patents in electronics, but my heart always told me I was an artist. And I followed my heart – I got a Master’s degree in painting. During the day, I would spend hours inventing new designs for airplanes and satellites, while at night, I would be sitting at home, drawing, and painting. I was lucky, I had found “my people”: the paint, the canvas, and the brush and they never judged me. They kept me sane all my life and they were an outlet to show my life journey.”
www.uanzoli.com