Sergei Sviatchenko
Sergei Sviatchenko (born 1952) is a Danish-Ukrainian artist, photographer, curator and architect. He is a representative of the Ukrainian New Wave. Initiator and creative director of the Less Festival of Collage, Viborg and Just A Few Works. He has lived in Denmark since the 1990s. Sviatchenko graduated from Kharkiv School of Architecture in Kharkiv in 1975, and in 1986 he studied a Ph.D. at the National Academy of Visual Arts and Architecture. Sviatchenko is the son of architect Evgenij Sviatchenko (1924-2004), who was professor of architecture and a member of the National Ukrainian Academy of Fine  Arts and Architecture, and engineer Ninel Sviatchenko (1926-2000). In 1975 Sergei Sviatchenko completed his architectural studies at Kharkov National University of Construction and Architecture. Sergei Sviatchenko is especially oriented towards architecture's modern expressions, among these are Constructivism and the contemporary European Bauhaus movement. From his teacher, Professor Viktor Antonov, Sviatchenko was introduced to the Russian film director Andrei Tarkovsky, and particularly his film Mirror from 1975 has left a thematic footprint in Sviatchenko's more recent collage art. After having worked as an architect for a number of architectural firms in Kharkov until 1983, Sviatchenko moved to Kiev , where he successfully graduated the master's program at Kiev National University of Construction and Architecture, having completed his Ph.D. dissertation "Means to Visual Information in Architecture". In the 1980s he was one of the founders of the Soviart Center for Contemporary Art (Soviart) in Kiev and co-organizer and curator of the first Ukrainian exhibitions of contemporary art ”Kiev-Tallinn” at Kiev Polytechnic Institute (1987), ”Kiev-Kaunas” (1988), the first joint exhibition by Soviet and American artists (1988) and curated the first Ukrainian exhibitions in Denmark: ”21 perceptions. Young Contemporary Ukrainian Artists” (1989), ”Ukrainian Art 1960-80” (1990), ”7  + 7” which was the first joint exhibition by Soviet and Danish artists (1990) and ”Flash. A New Generation of Ukrainian Art” (1990). At the end of 1990 Sviatchenko moved to Denmark with his wife Helena Sviatchenko having been awarded an art scholarship. In the same year he began to participate in solo and group exhibitions. Sviatchenko's permanent place of residence is Viborg (Denmark). Career. From 1975 to 1983, Sviatchenko worked as an architect for a number of architectural firms in Kharkov. From 1983 to 1986, he studied and graduated with a master's degree from Kiev National University  of Construction and Architecture, having completed his Ph.D. dissertation ”Means to Visual Information in Architecture”. In 1986 Sviatchenko was invited to work as art editor for the youth magazine ”Ranok” (”Morning”) in Kiev. At the same time he became one of the founders of the Soviet Union's first center for contemporary art ”Soviart” in Kiev and the center's first art director and curator. In the latter half of the 1980s emerged ”the Ukrainian new wave” – a movement in Ukrainian visual art whose members rejected the restrictions of censorship, created new aesthetic principles with their creativity and insisted on  the right to their own choice of artistic method. Sergei Sviatchenko was one of the participants in this perestroika-created movement in Kiev. Sviatchenko has made a number of monumental art works, among others in Nokia's headquarters in Copenhagen (now Aalborg University), at the educational institution Tradium in Randers, in Jyske Bank's headquarters in Silkeborg, Holstebro Sygehus (hospital), Skjern kirke (church), Poul Due Jensen Akademi (Grundfos, Bjerringbro), at Nykredit and Kraftvarmeværket (CHP plant), Viborg. A member of Billedkunstnernes Forbund (BKF) (Union of Visual Artists) In 2007 Sergei Sviatchenko was awarded the International Yellow Pencil Award/London (D&AD) Senko  Studios. In the beginning of the millennium Sviatchenko opened a non-profit exhibition studio Senko-Studio in Viborg. The name of the studio is made up of the first two and last three letters of his first and last names Sergei Sviatchenko. Internationally recognized artists from several different countries participated in the studio's exhibitions. For a number of years the studio became a place of experimentation for young artists who worked in various media, while already recognized designers could exhibit their works which were specifically created for display in Senko Studio. Over seven years, Senko Studio hosted 72 exhibitions  of contemporary art. Collage. As an artistic strategy, collage is found in Sviatchenko's work already in the beginning of the 1980s. In Sviatchenko's collages, a dialogue takes place between the material and the immaterial, between the realistic and the surrealistic. His collages comprise a kind of fusion of the recognizable and the unconscious, specific and symbolic, the detailed and the spontaneous. The connection between recognizable elements on the one hand and mysterious, surreal shapes on the other creates a unique artistic effect and evokes aesthetic reflection and surprise in the viewer. Two art movements are present in Sviatchenko 's collages, of which one is anchored in Constructivism (art) and the other in Surrealism. Sergei Sviatchenko's collages are created among other under the influence of the classical representatives of the historical avant-garde Alexander Rodchenko (1891-1956), El Lissitzky (1890-1941), Kazimir Malevich (1978-1935) and Gustav Klutsis (1895-1938). Inspired by the avant-garde of constructivism and the Bauhaus (school)movement, a connection between architecture, photomontage, scenography, decoration, design solutions and clothing style is created in Sviatchenko's artistic expression. Besides, the inspiration from Cubism, Dadaism and Surrealism is a characteristic feature in Sviatchenko's collages. The method  in Sviatchenko's collages is often based on a vertical-horizontal structure which can likewise be found in many of his paintings and photographs. His compositions are often created with a minimum of elements such as fragments of human figures, buildings or recognizable objects which are combined by the artist into a new sculptural form. The original vertical-horizontal structure is then supplemented with another dimension, so the elements are positioned in a new context. This new context is brought into being by two components: time and memory. In Sviatchenko's work as a whole but primarily in his collages , the inspiration from the cult film ”Mirror” by Andrei Tarkovsky (1932-1986) plays a central role. The film's poetic aesthetics, its artistic language and symbolism and its figurative execution of time and space became a model for Sviatchenko's artistic creativity. A number of works of art by Sviatchenko are dedicated to the film ”Mirror”.  The collages created in the ”Mirror”-series are made on the basis of film strips from the original film. In collaboration with the Japanese-English artist Noriko Okaku, Sergei Sviatchenko created the short film ”Mirror to Mirror” which is dedicated to the film ”Mirror ”. The film won first prize at the international festival in Luca (Italy) in 2015. Collages by Sviatchenko have been displayed at exhibitions in Denmark, Germany, Italy, Austria, France, England, Canada, the US and published in magazines such as Dazed & Confused, AnOther, Kilimanjaro, Varoom, Elephant, Rojo, Viewpoint, Blueprint, DAMn, Euroman, LOFFICIEL, Stiletto, Arena, Neon, Free & Easy and many others. Less Collage. The concept Less-collage emerged in the 2000s as a trend within modern conceptual collage and was introduced for the first time by Sergei Sviatchenko in 2004. Less-collage arose as a reaction to many fragmented, ”congested” compositions in classical  and modern collages. What is unique about Sviatchenko's Less-collages and characteristic of his imagery are firstly the distinct cut in selected images and secondly the number of elements in the collage which deliberately is minimized to two or three at the most. Unusually light colour backgrounds (few selected colours) highlight the motives and make them visually more convex, giving the otherwise flat images a sharper edged dimension. A further characteristic of the Less-collage is the absence of a precise geography and history. The elements have been torn out of their original reality and historical context and create  instead a new room of interpretation in which the viewer can reflect. Painting. Sviatchenko's earliest image ideas were stylistically formed in his paintings at the end of 1990. The original idea was carried out in a number of paintings first displayed at the exhibition ”Ukrainian Art 1960-80s” which opened in Kiev in 1990 and then in Fyns Kunstmuseum in Odense. The principal artwork from this series was called ”Joy Beyond the Mountains” (1989), which was inspired by the painters from the so-called Peredvizhniki cooperative (”The Wanderers” 1870–1923). In the 1990s Sviatchenko continued working in this style after  having settled down in Denmark. In the earliest artworks, the paintings in this series also included short texts as well as heraldic symbols and ornaments. Sviatchenko showcased this early series in full at FIAC – The international contemporary art fair in Paris in 1994 and at Galleri NORD (Randers, Denmark). The style mostly associated with Sviatchenko is especially characterized by an abstract expressionism with markings of landscape motifs applied with a significant palette and often with an atmosphere of contemplative repose pointing to the artist's preoccupation with the catharsis-theme. Moreover, lines and sketchings of architectural figures are an element  of many paintings, and in recent years Sviatchenko has experimented by including features from collage in characteristic mixed media. Close Up And Private. In 2009, Sviatchenko together with his youngest son Erik Sviatchenko began work on the project Close Up And Private (CUAP). The website started as an artistic photo project centered around the details in a man's wardrobe, his private/personal expression and style. ”Close Up And Private” brings fashion photography into an artistic frame towards a more abstract understanding that views style and fashion as elements in a new aesthetic. In 2010, Sviatchenko using the pseudonym Sergey  Nielsen created an image version of Close Up And Private, in 2011 a collage version ”Less CUAP”. Close Up And Private has collaborated with brands such as Costume National, Gant Rugger, Dickies, Mismo, Jack & Jones by Premium , Harris Tweed, AN IVY, S.T. VALENTIN and others who create new artistic interpretations and designs. According to an opinion poll conducted by the magazine EUROMAN , Sviatchenko has several times been voted ”best-dressed man in Denmark” in 2010, 2014 and 2019.