Alexander Ney was born in Leningrad in 1939. He went to Moscow to attend the Secondary Art School, but later returned to Leningrad to study at the Art Academy, from which he graduated.
In the late 1960s he began to take part in the first Leningrad alternative art exhibitions. Even in his early work his task is an attempt to explore the greater world structure and the way in which it relates to people, history, and civilization. He experimented with space and form, utilizing numerous techniques. While an active member of the Leningrad nonconformist community, his art has always been characterized by a certain degree of autonomy.
In 1972 he emigrated to France and settled in New York in 1974. He participated in the Venice Biennale in 1977 and numerous projects related to Russian nonofficial culture. Ney lives and works in New York City.
