Oleg Kulik
Oleg Kulik | |
|---|---|
Oleg Kulik in 2014 | |
| Born | Oleg Borisovich Kulik 1961 (age 64–65) Kyiv, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union |
| Education | Shevchenko State Art School Kiev Geological Survey College |
| Known for | Performance art, sculpture, photography, curating |
| Notable work | I Bite America and America Bites Me, Big Mother |
| Movement | Contemporary art, performance art |
| Website | Oleg Kulik on Artnet |
Oleg Borisovich Kulik (Russian: Оле́г Бори́сович Кули́к; born 1961 in Kyiv[1][2]) is a Ukrainian-born Russian performance artist, sculptor, photographer and curator. He is best known for his controversial artistic performances in which he acted like a dog.
Life and art
Kulik was born in Kyiv, and graduated from Shevchenko State Art School (1979) and Kiev Geological Survey College (1982). He has lived and worked in Moscow since 1986.[1][2]
In 2007, Oleg Kulik: Chronicle 1987–2007, a retrospective of Kulik's work, was exhibited at the Central House of Artists, Moscow.[3]
As curator of the Regina Gallery, Kulik became known for his unorthodox approaches such as putting paintings on wheels and hiring people to carry the artworks.[4]
Kulik considers his best curatorial endeavor to be "Leopards Bursting into a Temple" by Anatoly Osmolovsky in 1992. In this exhibit, two naked people were put into a cell with live leopards walking around them. He had said that he thought the exhibition was a "metaphor for everything new and lively that appears in our life".[4]
In 2009, Kulik curated the "Kandinsky Prize in London" at the Louise Blouin Foundation.[4]
In 2012 in Kyiv Kulik curated with Kostyantyn Doroshenko and Anastasia Shavlokhova project "Apocalypse and Renaissance in Chocolate House", a branch of the National Museum "Kyiv Art Gallery". At that exhibition 43 artists from Ukraine and Russia presented the metaphor of modern times. Andrey Monastyrsky, Arsen Savadov, Anatoly Osmolovsky, Dmitriy Gutov, Zhanna Kadyrova, Oksana Mas and other artists were among the participants. [5]
In 2022, Kulik was questioned and faced possible prosecution for "rehabilitation of Nazism" after his 2015 sculptural work 'Big Mother' was shown at Art Moscow. Militant pro-Kremlin politicians claimed that the work mocked The Motherland Calls, a monument to soldiers at Stalingrad. Kulik said "If I could imagine at least 10% of the interpretation that is now being made of my work, I would not only not show it, but I would not even have started it”; it was inspired by “a painful recovery from the trauma associated with splitting up with my beloved wife."[6]
Controversy
At the Interpol group exhibition in Stockholm in 1996, he performed in the gallery chained next to a sign reading "dangerous". An international scandal occurred when he not only attacked members of the public who chose to ignore the sign, in one case biting a man, but also attacked other artworks within the exhibition, partially destroying some pieces made by other artists.
The incident inspired a scene in the 2017 film The Square directed by Ruben Östlund, where animal actor Terry Notary plays a performance artist who imitates an ape.[7]
Susan Silas letter
In 1997 artist Susan Silas wrote "A Love Letter to Oleg Kulik, A Prince among Men, a Man among Dogs". She describes visiting Kulik during his performance of "I Bite America and America Bites Me",[8] in which Kulik references Joseph Beuys with an updated reference to the current cultural setting of America.[9] Again, Kulik performed as a dog, this time in a specially built cage, which the spectator would enter wearing protective garb.
References
- ^ a b Oleg Kulik on gif.ru
- ^ a b Kulik, Oleg Archived 2 November 2008 at the Wayback Machine on tvgallery.ru
- ^ "History" (in Russian). Central House of Artists. Archived from the original on 21 July 2019. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
- ^ a b c Valentin Diaconov, "Oleg Kulik", Modern Painters, November 2009.
- ^ "Apocalypse, not likely: Kulik-curated Parallel Project to Kyiv's Arsenale Shut Down for "Pornography"". Baibakov Art Projects. 10 June 2012.
- ^ "Russian artist Oleg Kulik faces prosecution for 'rehabilitating Nazism' with sculpture shown at Art Moscow". The Art Newspaper - International art news and events. 22 April 2022. Retrieved 23 April 2022.
- ^ Boucher, Brian (9 November 2017). "'The Art World Is Hard to Satirize': Ruben Östlund on Sending Up Curators in His Award-Winning Film The Square". Artnet. Retrieved 10 November 2017.
- ^ Milena Slavická, "Oleg Kulik, Or The Flying Dog Man", Fotograf Magazine
- ^ Susan Silas, "a love letter to oleg kulik", Artnet Magazine, 1 May 1997.
Sources
- Olena Kovalchuk. And I could bark to the end: Interview with performer Oleg Kulik. Birdinfligh 1.08. 2018.(in Ukr., Rus.)[1]