Aleksandra Aleksandrovna Grigorovich (Alexandra Exter) was born on January 6, 1882, in Belostok, Russian Empire (now Poland). Her father, named Aleksandr Grigorovich, was a wealthy businessman. She married a successful Kiev lawyer, named Nicolas Evgenievich Ekster, who was her cousin. Alekandra Ekster was an attractive, elegant, cosmopolitan lady, and soon became the toast of the town. Her painting studio in the attic at 27 Funduklievskaya Street was a rallying stage for Kiev's intellectual elite. There she was visited by poets and writers Anna Akhmatova, Ossip Mandelstam, Ilja Ehrenburg, director Alexander Tairov, the dancers Bronislava Njinska, and 'Elsa Kruger', and many artists.

Exter studied art at the Academie de la Grande Chaumiere in Montparnasse, Paris, during the 1907 and 1908. Then she returned to Kiev and participated in exhibitions with David Burlyuk. During the following years Exter lived between Kiev, Odessa, Milan, and Paris and was exhibiting her works in Salon des Independants in Paris, and in International Futurist Exhibitions in Milan and Rome. At that time she established a circle of famous friends such as 'Andre Gide', Guillaume Apollinaire, Fernand Leger, Marc Chagall, Kazimir Malevich, Pablo Picasso, and Georges Braque. She was influenced by Cubism and was a personal friend of Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, who introduced her to Gertrude Stein. By the 1917 her manner of painting had evolved to the point where any recognizable objects were gone. Exter's works became studies in blocks of bright colors. In 1918 she produced street decorations in abstract style in Kiev and Odessa. From 1918-1920 she founded and led a teaching and production workshop in Kiev. There her students were Grigori Kozintsev, Sergei Yutkevich, and Aleksei Kapler among others. In 1921 Exter moved to Moscow. There she collaborated with Alexander Rodchenko, Lyubov Popova, and other Russian avant-garde artists. From 1921-1924 she was teaching art in Moscow, at the Higher Artistic-Technical Workshop (VKHUTEMAS). At that time Exter achieved success as a stage designer, most recognized for her work for the Moscow Chamber Theatre of Alexander Tairov.

In 1924 Alexandra Exter and her husband emigrated to France and settled in Paris. She taught at the Academie der Moderne in Paris and later was a professor at Academie d'Art Contemporain under 'Fernand Leger'. She also worked as a book illustrator for the publishing company Flammarion. During her life Exter produced a large number of paintings, graphic works, street designs, and theatrical costumes and decorations, and worked in a variety of styles from Cubism and Futurism to Suprematism and Constructivism.

Alexandra Exter died on March 17, 1949, in Fontanay-aux-Roses, near Paris, France.