Sergei Sviatchenko

Sergei Sviatchenko, Wallpaper (detail), 2007, digital inkjet print, veriable dimensions

Sergei Sviatchenko has enjoyed a long and distinguished career; first as an architect, then a critically acclaimed abstract painter and more recently as a globe-hopping conceptual artist, working in performance, video and installation. With his current Wallpaper series, the artist bridges some of contemporary art's most divergent and conflicting themes. Namely, the role of art to challenge social issues, and broaden notions of beauty, while at the same time, functioning as a decorative object.

Sergei Sviatchenko, Wallpaper (detail), 2007, digital inkjet print, veriable dimensions

Gathering images from every imaginable source – from supermarket fliers to porn magazines and everywhere in between – Sviatchenko constructs intimate collages with a truly Dada spirit. These image vignettes are at times, startling, absurd, critical and hilarious; each one a sophisticated work in its own right. But Sviatchenko ups the ante by layering them digitally on a checkerboard pattern of intense, day-glow colour. The resulting inkjet prints are produced and installed like wallpaper. Calling into question both ends of the conceptual spectrum – where does the intellectual challenge of contemporary art end and where does decoration begin, and vice versa.

Sergei Sviatchenko, Wallpaper (detail), 2007, digital inkjet print, veriable dimensions

Sergei Sviatchenko’s collage-based installations have been shown across Europe, the USA and Australia. Recent exhibitions include Galleria Arturarte, Rome, which recieved wide-spread media coverage In the last year he has collaborated with art and culture publications, such as This Is A Magazine, Dazed & Confused and Kilimanjaro.