Mark Kelner is a visual artist and filmmaker based in Washington, DC. Prior to the art world, he worked with filmmaker Steven Spielberg, coordinating the production of video testimonies of Holocaust survivors in Eastern Europe and Russia for the USC Shoah Foundation Institute. A graduate of George Mason University, where he studied with the esteemed novelist Vasily Aksyonov, his work has appeared in Artenol, The Atlantic, and The Times, which published his humorous essay, “How to Sell Art to Oligarchs.” His debut series, “Moscow Made, American Born,” explores Russian-American duality by means of contrasting and distorting the visual symbols, ciphers, and social systems that define both cultures and their respective art histories. Of note, his visual works have been showcased in various media platforms and his short performance film, “So We Beat On...” was recently featured by The Washington Post. Of late, he has been a guest on Charlie Rose and is in active practice on his long running series, “Signs and Wonders.” Additionally, from 2009 to 2017, Mr. Kelner was elected to the Board of Directors of the Hermitage Museum Foundation (USA) where he helped develop the Museum’s “Art from America” and “Art Without Borders” programs, as well as various international contemporary art projects.