Oleg Kulik

Performance artist. Born in the family of Boris Kulik in Kiev (1961). Fellow of the Pollock-Krasner Foundation in New York. Collaborated with the Regina Gallery (from 1990). Contributed to the 49th Venice Biennale (2001) and held a retrospective of his works at the Central House of the Artist in Moscow (2007). Lives and works in Moscow.

Oleg Kulik’s performances always involve a clash with society, with an unpredictable response. The artist’s most famous project is Man-Dog. Virtually every performance of the human canine ended in outrageous headlines and arrests.

Oleg Kulik said in an interview: “I dragged myself into reality, which is far more important than art. Following the behests of Leo Tolstoy, I jumped off the cultural train – particularly as this train had come to a stop and even fallen apart. There was no reality, only an obtuse animal savagery. The man-dog is a metaphor for savagery and, at the same time, for quests for meaning. This was a period of affect, transgression, when you cross all boundaries.”