“My practice brings together very different symbols of today’s world to show that life is jolly.”
The author, acting under the pseudonym Kuril Сhto, is a Saint Petersburg-born artist, currently based in Lisbon. The artist works with various mediums: drawing, painting, applied art, digital memes, and urban interventions. At the present moment it is the intersection of contemporary folk art and DIY aesthetics that constitutes his key area of interest, as this reflects better than anything else the new sincerity. He started his art career after a spell organizing music events, encountering art through his interest in urban aesthetics and street art culture. At the same time he was evolving as an independent artist, experimenting with his own style and exploring the techniques of naive art. He studied at the studio of Yelena Serebryakova. Until 2018 the main themes of his work were the innate lack of freedom, everyday militarism, and mockery of the stereotypes of contemporary art and the official government agenda.
In February 2022, Kuril Сhto received recognition from the Balenciaga brand following the publication of his art project “Balenciaga series”, being given an invitation to their winter show in Paris.