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(1958-2002) was a St. Petersburg artist, musician and writer, as well as one of the leading figures of the post-Soviet avant-garde art. In 1977 he joined the Chronicle art group. In 1982, he founded the New Artists group that included many young contemporary artists and opened the ASSA gallery in his own apartment. The gallery later became major exhibition space for both the Chronicle and the New Artists, while Novikov was writing reviews for the shows using various pseudonyms. On many occasions he performed with Sergei Kuryokhin’s Popular Mechanics band and the famous rock group Kino. In 1987 he made a cameo appearance in the iconic film «Assa» directed by Sergei Solovyov. In 1989 he founded and started running the New Academy of Fine Arts. His first solo exhibition in New York took place in 1991. He subsequently met and befriended leading American artists, such as Robert Raushenberg and Keith Haring. His works were exhibited at such celebrated venues as the State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg; the State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; Kunsthalle, Dusseldorf and many others.