Rostislav Lebedev was born in Moscow in 1946. In 1969 he graduated from the painting department at the Moscow Pedagogical Institute. Together with his friends Orlov and Prigov, Lebedev formed a group that developed a new style of art combining elements of the Pop Art tradition with Conceptualism. Soviet posters and slogans, Constructivist principles, images of Soviet architecture, and other cemented forms of mass consciousness served as material for the group. During this time Lebedev’s art gained intellectual complexity, incorporating reflective, mythological, and metarealistic tendencies.
In the 1980s Lebedev turned to the genres of installation and performance and created conceptual decks of playing cards. The card game came to represent the philosophy of his art, enticing him to create plastic forms that constantly alternated between states of «yes» and «no», «entrance» and «exit». By the late 1980s Lebedev’s art had become a significant component of Moscow alternative culture. His work was exhibited in the most radical artistic events, such as The Artist and Modernity, Geometry in Art, and The Labyrinth and Dialogue. He has exhibited in Germany, France, Great Britain, and the United States, and his work is located at several museums in Russia and the United States. Lebedev lives and works in Moscow.