Sergiy Solonsky
Born in 1957, Osipenko village, Zaporizhia region, 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). Solonsky’s compositions develop the principle of “module collage”, which is based on creating an image by repeating one element (Phallic Heraldry series). His works 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). Solonsky is a member of The Fast Reaction Group in the mid-1990s together with Boris Mikhailov, Sergiy Bratkov and Vita Mikhailov. Since 2000, he has been working at V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University. In March of 2022, Solonsky managed to leave the bombarded city of Kharkiv. He lives now in Normandy, France.
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 Bestiaire).
Sergiy Solonsky 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. 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 Karazine de Kharkiv. En mars 2022 Solonsky a réussi de quitté Khakiv bombardé, il habite maintenant en Normandie, France.
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). Solonsky’s compositions develop the principle of “module collage”, which is based on creating an image by repeating one element (Phallic Heraldry series). His works 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). Solonsky is a member of The Fast Reaction Group in the mid-1990s together with Boris Mikhailov, Sergiy Bratkov and Vita Mikhailov. Since 2000, he has been working at V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University. In March of 2022, Solonsky managed to leave the bombarded city of Kharkiv. He lives now in Normandy, France.
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 Bestiaire).
Sergiy Solonsky 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. 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 Karazine de Kharkiv. En mars 2022 Solonsky a réussi de quitté Khakiv bombardé, il habite maintenant en Normandie, France.
Solo exhibitions:
2023 Foreboding Faces of Self, Cultural Communicative Center of Klaipeda, in the frame of Klaipeda Photo Festival, Klaipeda, Lithuania
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):
2024 Generations of Resilience - 22 Ukrainian photographers, Hangar, Brussels, Belgium, as a part of the PhotoBrussels Festival, curators: Hangar and Kateryna Radchenko
2023 Les facettes de la Liberté. Oeuvres de la collection de Tetiana et Boris Grynyov, Ukrainian Culturel Center in France, Ukrainian Embassy in France, Paris, France
2022 Ukraine. Une donation contemporaine. Kharkiv, Kyiv, Odessa, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
Paris Photo, Alexandra de Viveiros gallery, Paris, France
Photo London, Alexandra de Viveiros gallery, Somerset House, London, UK
Kharkiv School of Photography, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
Once upon the war in KHARKIV, Alexandra de Viveiros gallery, Paris, France
2021 Author in Game, Yermilov Centre, Kharkiv, Ukraine
Sensitivity. Contemporary Ukrainian Photography, Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv, Ukraine
2019 Storytelling from Kharkiv: Singular Voices, galerie Alexandra de Viveiros, Paris, France
Crossing Lines, Pinchuk Art Centre, Kyiv, Ukraine
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
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
2023 Foreboding Faces of Self, Cultural Communicative Center of Klaipeda, in the frame of Klaipeda Photo Festival, Klaipeda, Lithuania
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):
2024 Generations of Resilience - 22 Ukrainian photographers, Hangar, Brussels, Belgium, as a part of the PhotoBrussels Festival, curators: Hangar and Kateryna Radchenko
2023 Les facettes de la Liberté. Oeuvres de la collection de Tetiana et Boris Grynyov, Ukrainian Culturel Center in France, Ukrainian Embassy in France, Paris, France
2022 Ukraine. Une donation contemporaine. Kharkiv, Kyiv, Odessa, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
Paris Photo, Alexandra de Viveiros gallery, Paris, France
Photo London, Alexandra de Viveiros gallery, Somerset House, London, UK
Kharkiv School of Photography, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
Once upon the war in KHARKIV, Alexandra de Viveiros gallery, Paris, France
2021 Author in Game, Yermilov Centre, Kharkiv, Ukraine
Sensitivity. Contemporary Ukrainian Photography, Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv, Ukraine
2019 Storytelling from Kharkiv: Singular Voices, galerie Alexandra de Viveiros, Paris, France
Crossing Lines, Pinchuk Art Centre, Kyiv, Ukraine
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
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
Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
Museum of Kharkiv School of Photography (MOKSOP), Kharkiv, Ukraine
Publications and press (selection):
"Quand l'Ecole de Kharkiv en avait plein le dogmes", Libération, Clémentine Mercier, Feb 28, 2023
"Les Insolites Photographes de Kharkiv", M Le Monde Magazine, Roxana Azimi, Sept 2022 DOWNLOAD THE ARTICLE
"Photo London, une diversité de regards sur l’Ukraine", Le Monde, Roxana Azimi, May 13, 2022
"The Kharkiv School of Photography – in pictures", The Guardian, May 13,
"Photo London 2022. Top five fair highlights. Selected by Alex Merola", 1000 Words, May 11, 2022
"À Kharkiv, l'art sous les bombes", Marie Claire, Galia Loupan, April 1, 2022
"Kharkiv : sous les bombes russes, une école de photographie singulière en danger", Marianne, Anne Dastakian, March 26, 2022
"Soviet and contemporary Ukrainian 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
“KSP in Independent Ukraine: Vita Heroica vs Vita Minima”, Tatiana Pavlova, essay for VASA Projects, 2021
Artist' Portfolio: pdf
"Quand l'Ecole de Kharkiv en avait plein le dogmes", Libération, Clémentine Mercier, Feb 28, 2023
"Les Insolites Photographes de Kharkiv", M Le Monde Magazine, Roxana Azimi, Sept 2022 DOWNLOAD THE ARTICLE
"Photo London, une diversité de regards sur l’Ukraine", Le Monde, Roxana Azimi, May 13, 2022
"The Kharkiv School of Photography – in pictures", The Guardian, May 13,
"Photo London 2022. Top five fair highlights. Selected by Alex Merola", 1000 Words, May 11, 2022
"À Kharkiv, l'art sous les bombes", Marie Claire, Galia Loupan, April 1, 2022
"Kharkiv : sous les bombes russes, une école de photographie singulière en danger", Marianne, Anne Dastakian, March 26, 2022
"Soviet and contemporary Ukrainian 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
“KSP in Independent Ukraine: Vita Heroica vs Vita Minima”, Tatiana Pavlova, essay for VASA Projects, 2021
Artist' Portfolio: pdf