In the center of New York, 22 years ago, a naked man on a leash rushes at passers-by. A few years later, in the 1990s, he was trying to become a deputy of the Government and participate in elections from the party of animals. True, documents signed by paw prints of animals and dried insects, for some reason do not accept. This outstanding person is the artist Oleg Kulik, who receives invitations to exhibitions in Europe and America, because of his extremely original performances.
Childhood
Kiev. 1961 year. On April 15 at three in the morning, like Leonardo da Vinci, Oleg Kulik was born.
His parents were strict, the boy attended educational sections, circles. Contacts with peers outside of school were minimized, walks were almost excluded. Oleg still recalls English lessons as the worst thing in life, despite the fact that my mother was a teacher of this discipline and French. Already then a rebellious spirit arose in Oleg, and he longed to leave his parents' house as soon as possible.
Youth
Oleg Kulik received secondary specialized education at the Geological Exploration College, which he graduated with honors. After completing his studies, he went to Kamchatka, then to Siberia. Further, on the advice of comrade Mikhail Shtikhman, he went to Torzhok. In a creative sense, Oleg at that time saw himself as a literary figure. Stricken with a dream to write a story about life in a remote village, settles in a village called Konopad. Oleg lived in this place for two years. During this time, he wrote one, in his opinion, a good story about his father, he burned the rest. There he became interested in modeling, chose the direction of cubism and developed in it.
Teacher
On the advice of a loved one, Oleg brought eminent sculptors to court in Moscow. It was 1981, in the village in which Kulik lived, the poet Strakhov and his wife settled. She worked as a fashion model and had acquaintances in the world of art. On her recommendation, armed with a bag of sculptures, Oleg Borisovich appeared before the head of the House of Folk Art. Then he was in charge of Vasily Patsyukov. It was he who introduced him to Boris Orlov. According to Patsyukov - the best sculptor of Moscow at that time. Oleg, on his first visit to the sculptor’s workshop, was struck by his talent, the workshop was filled with obscure works in the form of cans, pieces, debris and stumps. So their acquaintance took place. Kulik and Borisov often talked. During this period, Oleg revised his view of creativity in general. And the formation began as a figure of modern art. The main, in his opinion, in any work is the state of the artist during the process of creating a work of art. Copying the classics is nonsense. The future of creativity lies in the creation of a new, through individual self-expression. This period was a turning point in the biography of Oleg Kulik.
Transparency
In the 1980s, Oleg Borisovich goes to repay his homeland. He calls this period of life isolation. In the head of the creator, a framed thought appears about the transience of time. The army with its harsh morality and internal dirt left an imprint on the work of Kulik. In 1989, he marked the beginning of a new round of his activity. Plexiglass accidentally fell into the hands of the artist. For ten years after he created transparent shapes. Carved figures were born, the refraction of light was investigated. Thanks to working with glass, Oleg Borisovich realized that even transparent, as if invisible material changes the space around, but does not change the vision of the world. This idea has long dominated his work. For ten years, the artist Kulik was looking for perfect forms of glass, creating figures and compositions.
One of the famous works of that period was Life Death, or The Lush Vanguard Funeral. This work was a glass coffin. Inside it was a smaller wooden coffin. It, in turn, is filled with leaflets with biblical commandments. The artist sprinkled the composition with dead cockroaches.
After some time, Kulik returns to reality with the thought that he never found the correct form of self-expression. The country was in the whirlpool of Perestroika, the artist was already thirty years old.
First performance
Fame came to Oleg Borisovich Kulik after the first "dog" performance. Moscow, 1994. In the creative studio of Marat Gelman, the front door opens and a naked man on a leash flies out to the surprised passers-by, the colleague Alexander Brener holds the other end of the leash. The performance was aimed at the common man as a reminder of the wild beginning hidden inside. Oleg jumped onto the hood of passing cars, scared drivers. “Attacked” a Swedish journalist who published an article about Russia as a “country with wild morals” (Oleg bit her in a creative outburst). For all the savagery of the situation, the attention of the audience focuses on the fact that a naked man (like an animal) is essentially defenseless. The opinion of critics was divided. Supporters of Kulik noticed that he was the first to integrate the beast and man in this way. Such actions were not satisfied before, Oleg Borisovich was called a fashionable and avant-garde creator. With the “man and dog”, the artist Kulik traveled all over Europe and America, the theme has not let him go for thirteen years.
Zurich
Once friends decided to play a joke on the artist. We found somewhere a form from the Kunsthaus in Zurich. They made a copy of the invitation with a request to show the "human dog" in Switzerland. The signature of Biche Kuriger, who is responsible for the exhibition, was successfully copied and did not cause doubt in Kulik.
Upon arrival in Switzerland, visiting the museum, Oleg, of course, guessed that he was played. They did not hear about him there and did not prepare for his arrival. Having laughed with friends an excellent rally, he nevertheless decided to demonstrate the "dog-man" there.
1995, Kunsthaus. At that time, the exhibition "Signs and Miracles" was held in the halls of the museum. Specialists of Europe gathered. Naked artist Oleg Kulik chained himself at the entrance to the opening day and did not allow people to the exhibition. He again bit the woman (she turned out to be the wife of one of the ambassadors), committed several acts of vandalism characteristic of a dog for a walk. Oleg left the museum in a police car.
The European public has reacted ambiguously to the performance. He was called the lonely Cerberus. A photo of Oleg Borisovich Kulik in the role of a four-legged spread in the media. In a foreign journalistic party, Kulik was nicknamed a rabid dog.
Animal party
Among the creative and active people, the “Turnkey Party” project was launched. Within its framework, the avant-garde artist creates the Party of Animals and appoints himself as its representative. The main message of the Party of animals: stop human atrocities. In the pre-election debate of the parties, the author mumbled instead of human speech. Proclaimed animals equal to man.
Interpol
1996, Stockholm. The Dog House program was created. The author of the artist Kulik's performances was invited to work in all countries of Europe. Sweden, as a country without violence, was shocked by Kulik's behavior at the exhibition. He was taken by the police, the artist again bit someone. They made me write an explanation about violence against visitors to the exhibition. He also damaged part of the museum's exposition.
Not with a word, but with a body
1996, Moscow. Oleg Kulik’s new work has become part of the election campaign. He collected the signatures of the electorate in support of the candidate for deputy and at the same time breast-fed people. A corset with six imitations of sow breasts was fixed on the artist’s body and people were given vodka through them.
During this period, the creative intelligentsia of Russia sought to the west, they tried to work on the basis of requests from foreign experts. The work was appreciated universal, for having a national motive under it. The artist Kulik, thanks to his performances, has become one of the most famous artists in Russia. Although initially Oleg was planning to end his career with a performance. The artist’s creativity is original and original, a demonstration of the equality of man and animal brought success. The end of the "era of bestiality" in Kulik's work came when he came up with the idea of taking his finger away and feeding the dog in public. He did not have the courage for this act, so it was decided to end the human dog.
Zoo museum
2002, Moscow. Kulik's exhibition inside the Museum project once again struck the crowd with originality. The artist created stuffed people. Glass cubes housed a tennis player, artist and astronaut.
A stuffed tennis player was created to remind the viewer of eternal femininity. Many note a clear resemblance to Anna Kournikova. The figure is made in motion, surprisingly clear and believable. The stuffed hair and teeth are real, the skin is made of wax, so it has a slightly transparent, airy appearance. The work embodies fragility and at the same time stiffness, tearing of an athlete. The duality of the woman’s nature is demonstrated: beauty and aggression (scars on the body).
The astronaut resembled a baby with an umbilical cord. His gaze is open and naive as in a child.
Regina
Much later, after a long break, the artist Oleg Kulik opens the exhibition "Frames". This project involves five works by the artist. The first exposition is two wooden frames at the entrance to the exhibition. They are mounted mirrors. A person getting inside becomes as if into a corridor that is observing from the inside. The sacred meaning of this work is to clear the space within itself. Reflections in the mirror are repeated endlessly. A man sees only himself inside the mirrors and no one else.
The next exhibit is a depicted man surrounded by glass lamps with candles with live fire. Inside the fiery background, a shadow, a hand raised, as if making a throw. The meaning of the work - a person is smeared with his passions. Inside it is black, although everything around is bright, beautiful and gives religion.
The central exposition of the exhibition is Black Square. This work repeats Malevich Square, but it is framed by a white frame. The main, according to Oleg Kulik, the picture is just a frame. Inside there is emptiness and blackness, but around it is clean and white. The frame symbolizes hope, the salvation of people inside the square. The entire exhibition was created to reveal the meaning of this frame.
Madonna
The artist worked on this work for a long time. More than six hundred small pupae were molded, with different heads and dresses, masks and skirts. Oleg Borisovich stopped in the end on a simple triangle and a ball. Small doll figures frame the outline of the Madonna and Child. Kulik’s art is to convey to the audience the message of lightness and childhood. The artist here speaks of youth, which will come to a black abyss to reflect on the structure of the world.
In small figures around Madonna, there is clearly a promise to Pussy Riot. According to the artist, he did not try to provoke a scandal, it is a tool, an image, not the essence.
Dome
The geometry of the dome repeats the temple of the II century in Cappadocia. The artist accurately repeated the arrangement of the figures inside the dome. Kulik took a photo of the dome inside the temple with a flash and received an image without the faces of the saints. Thus, the torment and suffering in the name of faith were erased, only pure geometry remained.
The main idea of the work is religion in the modern world. Lack of blood, watery eyes. In the center of the exposure is a black void. The square around symbolizes the earth. The circle is a symbol of the sky. According to the author, one shell remained from the former spiritual Christianity. The chandelier pulls up behind itself, it seems that it was always in the center of the hall.
Followers
In 2007, the art group "War" appeared. Together with another Bombila team, they held a mass of actions. The main subjects of which, unlike Oleg Kulik, are politics. Some of the performances of these teams are frankly shocking and reminiscent of plots from adult films. Most of the actions were carried out in the basement studio in Podmoskovny Lane. Kulik considers them extremely talented and proud that the groups are his followers.
Also, the story of a man who nailed himself for the genitals to Red Square does not cease. His name is Pyotr Pavlensky, an artist by birth also from Kiev. The first action was called "Suture". Pavlensky sewed his mouth with stern threads. The action took place against the backdrop of the Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg. By his actions, Peter protested against the arrest of Pussy Riot. He showed the intimidation of society and a demonstration of the position of the artist in modern Russia. After the action, Pavlensky was taken to an appointment with a psychiatrist, who released him, making sure of the sanity of the patient.
A family
Oleg Borisovich Kulik’s childhood was secured, the family was not from the poor. Parents held good posts in Soviet times. Craving for art was inherent in him since childhood. For installations, new furniture purchased by parents and mother's foreign magazines were used.
Kulik's first wife was Lyudmila Bredikhina. They met when Oleg lived in the village. Lyudmila traveled off the beaten path with her first husband, they already had a four-year-old son. When Oleg stole her, he was 20 years old. Mila shared the interests of the artist in the field of contemporary art, helped to join the hangout of the Moscow underground. It was she who persuaded to replace literature with sculpture at the beginning of her career. The wife took part in all the artist's performances.
In recent years, the brawler has become calmer. Oleg Kulik's paintings have become deeper in meaning. In recent years, he traveled a lot, visited Tibet, was inspired by oriental culture and meditation. Today, this artist spends a lot of time at home with his family, whose composition has changed. It consists of the wife of Anastasia and daughter Frosi, who this year will be seven years old.
Finally
Contemporary art has always caused a lot of controversy around itself. Screaming, unexpected, open to everything unusual, it often shockes people than makes you admire. Nevertheless, people continue to visit Oleg Kulik's exhibitions, critics admire the work or, conversely, deny it. The artworks of Kulik continue to be exhibited around the world.
In the 1990s, when the country was gradually collapsing, Oleg Borisovich managed to make a breakthrough in art and become a world star. During the time of Perestroika and the dashing 1990s, Kulik’s ideas were not in great demand, people were busy with survival. But the name the artist earned himself and in the modern world of art is very successful. The opening of the most popular Winery began with his exhibition. Oleg Borisovich is one of the directors of the annual art event "Archstoyanie", is the creator of the propaganda poster Ksenia Sobchak.