Sergiy Solonsky
Born in 1957, Ossipenko, Ukraine
ENG Sergiy Solonsky is one of the important personalities of Kharkiv photographic community. In 1975 began studying Chemistry at М. Grokiy Kharkiv State University (V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University now), but dropped out after a third year. While being a student, he attended a cinema club and gradually got interested in photography. Became an active participant of exhibitions since the late 1980s, drawing the public attention with his collages (Bestiary series). Solonskiy’s compositions develop the principle of “module collage”, which is based on creating an image by repeating one element (Phallic Heraldry series). His pieces are defined by the inclination towards the surreal vision of body: corporeal metamorphosis are represented not only with the help of montage, but other techniques, such as long exposure as well (Oscillations, 1993-1994). Despite his love for straight photography, it rarely appears in Solonsky’s oeuvre of the 1990s, mainly in some separate shots and two documentary series (Let’s have a drink and Moonshiners). Sergiy was a member of The Fast Reaction Group in the mid-1990s together with Boris Mikhailov, Sergiy Bratkov and Vita Mikhailov. Since 2000, works at V.N.Karazin Kharkiv National University.
FR Sergiy Solonsky est l'une des personnalités clés de la communauté photographique de Kharkiv, Ukraine. Pendant ses études de chimie à l'Université de Kharkiv, il fréquente un club de cinéma et s’intéresse progressivement à la photographie. Sergiy Solonskiy participe activement aux expositions depuis la fin des années 1980, attirant l'attention du public avec ses collages (série Bestiary).
Sergiy Solonskyy utilise principalement les parties de son propre corps pour créer, à travers des processus proprement photographiques, des visions fantastiques et déroutantes. Il s’adonne pleinement, dans les années 1980 et 1990, à la « photographie de laboratoire ». À travers un photomontage manuel minutieux, il décompose son corps en divers éléments qui construisent des figures humanoïdes monstrueuses. L’enjeu du montage n’est plus de fédérer la population sous les auspices de la seule idée vraie, mais d’exprimer l’expérience douloureuse de l’artiste face à la disparition irréversible de repères stables.
L’artiste travaille aussi avec la photographie du reportage dont on peut citer deux séries documentaires : Allons boire et Moonshiners. Sergiy Solonsky fait partie du Groupe de réaction rapide au milieu des années 1990 avec Boris Mikaïlov, Sergiy Bratkov et Vita Mikaïlov. Depuis 2000, il travaille à l’Université Karazin de Kharkiv.
ENG Sergiy Solonsky is one of the important personalities of Kharkiv photographic community. In 1975 began studying Chemistry at М. Grokiy Kharkiv State University (V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University now), but dropped out after a third year. While being a student, he attended a cinema club and gradually got interested in photography. Became an active participant of exhibitions since the late 1980s, drawing the public attention with his collages (Bestiary series). Solonskiy’s compositions develop the principle of “module collage”, which is based on creating an image by repeating one element (Phallic Heraldry series). His pieces are defined by the inclination towards the surreal vision of body: corporeal metamorphosis are represented not only with the help of montage, but other techniques, such as long exposure as well (Oscillations, 1993-1994). Despite his love for straight photography, it rarely appears in Solonsky’s oeuvre of the 1990s, mainly in some separate shots and two documentary series (Let’s have a drink and Moonshiners). Sergiy was a member of The Fast Reaction Group in the mid-1990s together with Boris Mikhailov, Sergiy Bratkov and Vita Mikhailov. Since 2000, works at V.N.Karazin Kharkiv National University.
FR Sergiy Solonsky est l'une des personnalités clés de la communauté photographique de Kharkiv, Ukraine. Pendant ses études de chimie à l'Université de Kharkiv, il fréquente un club de cinéma et s’intéresse progressivement à la photographie. Sergiy Solonskiy participe activement aux expositions depuis la fin des années 1980, attirant l'attention du public avec ses collages (série Bestiary).
Sergiy Solonskyy utilise principalement les parties de son propre corps pour créer, à travers des processus proprement photographiques, des visions fantastiques et déroutantes. Il s’adonne pleinement, dans les années 1980 et 1990, à la « photographie de laboratoire ». À travers un photomontage manuel minutieux, il décompose son corps en divers éléments qui construisent des figures humanoïdes monstrueuses. L’enjeu du montage n’est plus de fédérer la population sous les auspices de la seule idée vraie, mais d’exprimer l’expérience douloureuse de l’artiste face à la disparition irréversible de repères stables.
L’artiste travaille aussi avec la photographie du reportage dont on peut citer deux séries documentaires : Allons boire et Moonshiners. Sergiy Solonsky fait partie du Groupe de réaction rapide au milieu des années 1990 avec Boris Mikaïlov, Sergiy Bratkov et Vita Mikaïlov. Depuis 2000, il travaille à l’Université Karazin de Kharkiv.
Solo exhibitions:
2019 Oscillations, Come-in gallery, Kharkiv, Ukrain 2004 Let’s have a drink!, Marat Guelman gallery, Kyiv, Ukraine. The Fifth Element .The Met. Express - Kharkiv -Kyiv - A Non- stop Trip, Soviart Centre for Contemporary Art, Kyiv, Ukraine 2003 Atelier, Karas gallery, Kyiv, Ukraine 1996 Raphael, as part of Fast Reaction Group, Up/Down gallery, Kharkiv, Ukraine All my Wives were Virgins, Up/Down Gallery, Kharkiv, Ukraine. 1995 If I Were a German, as a part of Fast Reaction Group, Marat Guelman gallery, Moscow, Russia Oscillations, Brotfabrik gallery, Berlin, Germany 1994 Spitting on Moscow, as a part of Fast Reaction Group, Up/Down gallery, Kharkiv, Ukraine 1992 Body Art, Up/Down gallery, Kharkiv, Ukraine Group exhibitions (selection): 2022 Kharkiv School of Photography, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France Once upon the war in KHARKIV, Alexandra de Viveiros gallery, Paris, France 2021 Author in Game, curated by Sergiy Lebedynskyy, Nadia Kovalchuk and Sandra Osadcha, Yermilov Centre, Kharkiv, Ukraine Sensitivity. Contemporary Ukrainian Photography, Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv, Ukraine 2019 Storytelling from Kharkiv: Singular Voices, galerie Alexandra de Viveiros, curator Nadiia Kovalchuk, Paris, France Crossing Lines, Pinchuk Art Centre, Kyiv, Ukraine, curators : Björn Geldhof, Martin Kiefer, Alicia Knock Kharkiv school of photography from Grynovs’ family collection, Mironova Foundation gallery, Kyiv, Ukraine 2018 École photographique de Kharkiv, Kherson Museum of Modern Art, Kherson, Ukraine 2017 Kharkiv. 18+, as a part of Odessa/Batumi Photo Days 2017 festival, Odesa Museum of Modern Art, Odesa, Ukraine, curator : Sergiy Lebedynskyy 2016 Research Platform: Guilt, Pinchuk Art Centre, Kyiv, Ukraine. 2014 Occupied by Art, YermilovCentre, Kharkiv, Urkaine 2013 Act of Disobedience. Body as a Protest in Kharkiv Photography of 1970s-2010s, Lumiere brothers Center for Photography, Moscow, Russia |
2012 Artist for Fair Elections, together with Sergiy Bratkov, Paperworks gallery, Vinzavod Contemporary Art Center, Moscow, Russia
2010 Ukrainian photography 1989-2009, Bratislava Month of Photography, Bratislava, Slovakia 2004 Fotograficy z Charkowa, City gallery Arsenal, Poznan, Poland. 2002 The life that is similar to song, Cultural Heroes International Festival, Ra gallery, Plast-Art gallery, Kyiv, Chernihiv, Ukraine 2000 Artist Books / Photos with Text, Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA 1999 Сarte blanche à Boris Mikhailov, Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris, France 1999-2000 Future is Now Ukrainian Art in the Nineties, Museum of Contemporary Art, Škuc gallery, Ljubljana, Slovenia, City Gallery Collegium artisticum, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzogovina 1995 Grudges, together with Sergiy Bratkov and Igor Chursin, Up/Down gallery, Kharkiv, Ukraine Multiple Exposures: Ukrainian Photography Today, Rutgers Art Center, Zimmerly Museum, New Jersey, USA Elections, with Sergiy Bratkov, Up/Down gallery, Kharkiv, Ukraine. Kharkiv Photography, Museum of Industrial Culture, Nürnberg, Germany 1994 Neophotoexpressionism, with Boris Mikhailov and Sergiy Bratkov, Kharkiv Fine Art Museum, Kharkiv, Ukraine Photoneoexpressionism, with Boris Mikhailov and Sergiy Bratkov, Up/Down gallery, Kharkiv, Ukraine 1987 Venus, Krakow Photographic Society, Krakow, Poland F-87, Palace of Students of Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute, Kharkiv, USSR 1986 Palace of Culture of Builders, Kharkiv, USSR |
Collections (selection):
Centre Pompidou, Paris, France Museum of Kharkiv School of Photography (MOKSOP), Kharkiv, Ukraine |
Publications and press (selection):
Soviet and contemporary Ukranian art, Centre Pompidou, France, The Art Newspaper, April 2021 Galerie Alexandra de Viveiros : 6 artistes rejoignant la collection du Centre Pompidou, L'Oeil de la Photographie, France, 2021 |