An artist who has worked in the most diverse mediums and is known under various guises visits Andrey Kovalev—as part of the ongoing Just Art series at Garage.
A lack of formal art training couldn’t stop Sergey Shutov (b. 1955) from making his name as one of the most prolific and vivid practitioners of the Soviet and Russian underground. Artist, performer, and musician, during the 1980s and 1990s he was involved in Sergey Kuryokhin’s famous Pop-Mechanics band and made set designs for the iconic Sergey Solovyev film ASSA. He was member of the fake Academy of All Arts founded by Timur Novikov and the Club of Vladimir Mayakovsky Devotees. He also pioneered the club and squat movement here in Russia, becoming one of this country’s first electronic DJs and VJs. Shutov has had a successful career as an artist proper too, establishing himself as a painter, sculptor, photographer, and author of multimedia installations. He began exhibiting in the early 1980s on Malya Gruzinskaya 28, took part in the influential Youth Art Exhibitions (1986, 1988) and the first Sotheby’s auction in Moscow (1988). In 2001, Shutov represented Russia at the 49th Venice Biennale with his ABAK installation in the Alexey Schusev pavilion in the Giardini. He lives and works in Moscow.
