About the artist
Arsen Savadov is a conceptualist, one of the key figures of the New Ukrainian Wave.He was born on September 24, 1962 in Kyiv in the family of graphic artist Volodymyr Savadov, an Armenian originally from Baku. In 1986, he graduated from the Kyiv State Art Institute. He was a member of the Kyiv artistic group "Paris Commune". He declared himself in the late 80s, becoming one of the most active representatives of the Ukrainian trans-avant-garde, the so-called "Southern Russian Wave". The well-known work "Cleopatra's Sorrow", created by Arsen Savadov together with Heorhiy Senchenko in 1987, is considered the reference point for a new period in Ukrainian art. In the 1990s, he worked with photography and video in collaboration with Georgy Senchenko, then with Oleksandr Kharchenko, but in the end he preferred an individual creative career.Provocative projects: "Donbas-Chocolate" and "Book of the Dead" brought the greatest popularity. He admits that his early projects were frankly provocative, which he is not ashamed of - competition nowadays literally forces creators to cling to the public's attention by all possible and impossible means. In recent years, Arsen Savadov returned to painting. Represented Ukraine at the 49th Venice Biennale. Nowadays he lives and works in Kyiv.
List of the exhibitions
Selected personal exhibitions2017 – Gulliver's dream, Art Ukraine Gallery, Kyiv, Ukraine2012 – Escape to Egypt, Collection gallery, Kyiv, Ukraine2007 – Paintings. Daniyal Mahmood Gallery. New York2005 - Love Story. Galerie Orel Art Presenta, Paris2003 – Donbass-Chocolate. Galerie Orel Art Presenta, Paris2002 – Kokto. Marat Guelman Gallery, Kyiv, Ukraine1998 – Deepinsider: Arsen Savadov (with Alexander Kharchenko), Soros Center for Contemporary Arts Gallery, Kyiv, Ukraine1995 — Arsen Savadov & Georgy Senchenko. House of Artist, Kyiv, Ukraine1995 — Arsen Savadov. Chasie Post Gallery, Atlanta, USA1992 — The works of Savadov & Senchenko. Berman Gallery, New York, USA
Selected group exhibitions2017 — Art Riot: Post-Soviet Actionism, Saatchi Gallery, London2016 — Recycling Religion, WhiteBox, New York2015 - BALAGAN!!! Contemporary Art from the Former Soviet Union and Other Mythical Places, Curated by David Elliott, MOMENTUM, Berlin2014 — Volta 10, Basel2014 — PREMONITION: UKRAINIAN ART NOW, Saatchi Gallery, London2013 — Days of Ukraine in the United Kingdom, Saatchi Gallery, London2012 — Apocalypse and Renaissance in Chocolate House, branch of the National Museum "Kiyv Art Gallery," Kyiv. Curated by Oleg Kulik and Kostyantyn Doroshenko.