Andrey Kuzkin
Paris, France
March '22 - present
Laureate of the All-Russian competition in the field of contemporary visual art "Innovation" (nominations "New Generation", 2008 and "Book of the Year" 2017), the "Soratnik" award (2009, 2010, 2011) and the Kandinsky Prize (nomination "Project of the Year" in 2016 and 2021).
The artist has participated in numerous group projects, including the Krasnoyarsk Museum Biennale (2009, 2011, 2015), the Berlin Biennale (2010), the project "Modernikon. Contemporary Art from Russia" (Turin, Venice, 2010), the Performa 11 Biennale (New York, 2011), "The End of the World" (Prato, 2016), the Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art (2015, 2019), the Triennial of Russian Contemporary Art (Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, Moscow 2020), etc.
The works are in the collections of the National Centre for Art and Culture Georges Pompidou (Paris), the State Tretyakov Gallery (Moscow), the Moscow Museum of Modern Art, the National Centre for Contemporary Arts (Moscow), etc.
In his work he often turns to
to performative and actionist practices. The main questions that interest him are
- existential, occupying any person: the confrontation between life and death, frailty
and the disappearance of the human body. Based on a conceptualist approach in his works, the artist uses various media - graphics, painting, sculpture, installation.
BREAD MAN. 2022-23
Small sculptures Bread men are created
artist upon his arrival in Paris after his sudden departure from Russia. Andrei Kuzkin sculpted them using household items found in the basement of the house where he lived. In this way, the artist literally settled into his new home. Bread, in this case, symbolizes the frailty of the human body. Here, the Christian symbolism of bread is combined with the tradition of sculpting bread in prison.
NEW YEAR'S BLACK HOLES. 2023
graphic series
NATURAL PHENOMENON OR 99 LANDSCAPES WITH A TREE No. 74. 2023
performance at HUS Gallery, Paris
I WANT THE WAR TO END. 2023
A series of performative graphics consisting of several sheets of paper, each quote the phrase I Want the War to End in four languages - Ukrainian, Russian, French, and English. The time spent creating these sheets becomes intangible capital and an important component of this work.
"A strong desire, which in no way can be realized, has no direct outlet and as a result is sublimated into these graphic sheets..."
MIXTURE. 2022
(Blood, Shit, War). The word "Blood" is written in the author's blood, "Shit" - in excrement, "War" - in a mixture of blood and excrement
personal exhibitions
2023 – Who Am I? , Église Réformée Wallonne de La Haye; 2023 – “ Phenomène naturel ou 99 paysages avec un arbre ”, Galerie Hus, Paris.
publications
2023 – “ How Andrey Kuzkin flipped Paris on its head” , Art Focus Now, by Anastasia Spirenkova; 2022 – “Art of dissent: How Russians protest the war on Ukraine” ,
The Washington Post, by Robyn Dixon , Mary Ilyushina and Natalia Abbakumova; 2022 – " The present of Russian artists after the invasion of Ukraine. What two writers talk about anti-war and art Ekaterina Muromtseva and Andrei Kuskin ", Tokyo Art Beat, by Wakana Kouno