About the Artist
Artem was born in Pechenga, Russia in 1988, and held his first exhibition in Minsk when he was still only 15 years old. He is currently studying architecture and design in Bel National Technical University.in Minsk, Belarus. He is represented in the UK by fellow artist Ali White.
Exhibitions
| June-August 2007 | Selected exhibitor, summer exhibition. Royal Academy of Arts. London. |
| April 2006 | Annual festival ‘March Cats’, ‘Palatz mastatstvau’ art centre, Minsk. Belarus |
| April 2006 | Kaunas, Lithuania in the hall of VDU Grand hall, S.Daukanto st.28 during XVI InternationalJjazz Festival. |
| November 2005 | Vilnius, Lithuania. Gallery ‘Šv. Stepono 10’ |
| August 2005 | Minsk Art Gallery (Skarina str.,12) |
| June 2004 | Minsk Art Gallery (Skarina str.,12) |
Artist Statement
…born in an unknown northern Russian town Pechenga at the very borders of the country near Norwegian terra, I have spent my life since I can remember searching a cold black silence. I have never been a street kid, hated sports, and with all my anti-masculine appearance I preferred spending all my time with the only friend I had.
My interests in the arts started with experimental poetry, which was just a vogue among my company. I was a member of an underground art club ‘die übermensch’ and an editor of its home published poetry issue, quite popular among school mates and belarusian young poets. Writing myself I tried to illustrate my inner thoughts in sketches. Then my debutant graphics started. I found a feeling inside myself connected with multi-colored dreams. The realization isn’t always indispensable, but those days I was too eager to stop and tried oils which was considered a success by my friends but I used to hate all that happened after. La mia nonna has a modest house for Europe but rather big for our country collection of paintings. She noticed me to be not as ordinary as I treated myself, and invited her acquaintance arts critic from hermitage (st. Petersburg) who admired my works and persuaded to organize some kind of personal exhibition. Now I’m ashamed of that early dawn, but it was a good experience.
He taught me to me to work all night long and inspired my beginnings. I avoid studies not to lose my own ideas and prefer making analysis by myself. Painting is more poetry for me than social meaning. Starting a new work I begin with ideas and metaphors and drop the significance of the form. Life in the post soviet republic can be compared with a tragic cinematic story rather than a fashionable magazine. The capital, which usually seems to be treated as the very centre, is in fact a materialistic suburb of an idealistic dream. I work with the colors seeking for extreme vision, which is extreme calmness, extreme boredom, extreme uselessness of an artist in this city. In every city.
Art is the only phenomenon which has a right to avoid both politics as a materialistic symbol and religion as spiritual symbol, but still art would be more materialistic than our life and more spiritual than any religion can ever imagine.