Stas Volyazlovsky

Stas Volyazlovsky  was born in Kherson, Ukraine in 1971. Volyazlovsky’s authentic style corresponds to the style of his  hometown Kherson, where he lived all his life, and to the style of his entourage (artists and friends). It is all about sincerity, self-mockery, black humour, ludicrous funny cases and rumours. A lot of things from everyday life, layered on top of horrors from the ‘big world’, transcended to his works in a grotesque manner.

Stas became the creator of a new trend in art called 'chanson-art'. It was his way of communicating with people and their tough destinies, with their fears, superstitions, thoughts and stories. Volyazlovsky’s artwork is a ‘stream of consciousness’, without filters and squeamishness, a reflection of the world’s craziness, the cruelty and pettiness of human nature, the concentration of everything which gets poured on top of us via media channels - dismembered bodies, pornography, crime, politics, the yellow press. The horrors do not go away, even if we close our eyes. The artist chose a visual language where freedom, simplicity and frankness are possible: naive art, Russian ‘lubkis’ and art of the mentally disturbed. By touching upon forbidden subjects with the help of black humour, Volyazlovsky invented whole stories: ‘lubok comics’ on bed sheets, pillow cases, mattresses, tablecloths, created ‘wall newspapers’, graphics, collages, installations, video works, wrote stories and poems.

In the 2000's, he was a member of the ‘R.E.P’ group, of the ‘Totem’ club and in the 2010’s, a part of ‘Rapany’. In 2007 he started collaborating with REGINA Gallery, which hosted two of his personal exhibitions: ‘Chanson Art’ (a catalogue was published, 2008) and ‘Kiosk Between Two Towers’ (2011). His works were exhibited in Belgium, UK, Germany, Israel, Lithuania, Russia, USA, Ukraine, France, Croatia and Sweden. Participated at the Moscow Biennale (2009). Participated at art fairs like ‘Art Moscow’ (Moscow, 2007), Armory Show (New-York, 2008, 2011), ARTISSIMA (Turin, 2008), Art Basel (Basel, 2011), VIENNAFAIR (Vienna, 2013), Viennacontemporary (Vienna, 2017). Works are in Cindy Sherman’s collection, as well as in other private collections in Russia and abroad.