Info about Participants
Ivan Galuzin
(b.1979, Murmansk, USSR) lives and works in Oslo, Norway. He received his diploma from The National College of the Arts, Oslo in 2006. Galuzin is a conceptual artist working with installation, painting, performance, text and poetry. His visual language is almost schizophrenic in combining the manic and destructive with the more esoteric, fragile and beautiful.
His installations are complex compositions with a life on their own. They invade the space they are part of leaving us with the feeling they have a direction and will of their own.
Recent exhibitions include “Nordic art today”, Etagi Contemporary Art Centre, St. Petersburg, Russia (2011), “Aspects of painting” Akershus Kunstsenter, Lillestrøm, Norway (2011), “The Return of The Losers”, Kalmar Kunstmuseum, Kalmar, Sweden (2011), “Border District”, Haugar Vestfold Kunstmuseum, Tønsberg, Norway (2010), “Qui Vive”, II Moscow International Biennale for Young Art, Moscow, Russia (2010) “The Drawing Biennale”, Momentum Kunsthall, Moss, Norway (2010).
Galuzin shown works at The Armory Show; Nordic Focus, New York, in March and will have a solo exhibition at Kunstnerforbundet, Oslo, Norway later this year.
Maria Backman (Stockholm, Sweden)
Every work of art is a statement – placing itself in the world, pleading the artist’s privilege to claim space. I am interested in the conception of the area concerning I versus the Others, private vs public, imagination vs reality.
In my art work I want to stress, and stretch, my own prejudices to achieve new experiences. I like to be unfaithful to matters and materials. I like to think that my working with art is a way for me to get to know myself and the world better.
Yury Vassiliev (Kaliningrad, Russia)
b.1950
Since 2001 realizes his author project «Russian Red» (video, photo, performance, installation), which was presented at more than 50 Russian and international exhibitions in Russia, Germany, Austria, USA, Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Poland, Belgium, including:
«Davaj! Davaj!», Berlin, Germany – Vienna, Austria (2002); «Behind the Red Horizon»,
Warsaw, Poland – Moscow, Russia (2004); «Brusland. Brussie. Brussia», Brussels, Belgium (2005); «ARS-06», KIASMA, Helsinki, Finland (2006); «Art Index», Riga, Latvia (2008); «RED – RED. Yury Vassiliev and Carl Michael von Hausswolf, 1-st Ural Industrial Biennale of Contemporary Art, Yekaterinburg, Russia (2010). Grand Prix of the international jury of Media Forum of the 25th Moscow International Film Festival, Russia (2003).
San Donato group (Kaliningrad, Russia)
Oleg Blyablyas, Evgeny Umansky, Alexey Chebykin
The San Donato group was formed in 2008 to bring together four artists, each being active in the field and practicing a range of genres and technologies individually, but looking for a different experience of collaboration and co-creation. The group focuses on public art projects and research in social contexts. The artists produce context and object installations which re-format the reality by means of invading the already existing artifacts or transforming different realms into those.
The artworks of the group have been widely exhibited , including "MONSTERS - Men, Murderers, Mighty Machines", Dresden, Germany (2008); “Contemporary art in a traditional museum” festival, Saint Petersburg, Russia (2009); “Tower Kronprinz: Second Advent” international competition, Kaliningrad, Russia (2009); “Art-Zavod” international contemporary art festival, Ekaterinburg, Russia (2009); V international art symposium “Alanica-2011”, Vladikavkaz, North Ossetia (2011), "A Complicated Relation, part II", Kalmar, Sweden (2011); “Port city: There is no sea in here” exhibition in the framework of the IV Moscow Biennale of contemporary art, Ekaterinburg, Russia (2011).
