Artem Volokitin

Born in 1981, in Chuguiv (Ukraine), Artem Volotkitin lives and works in the Ukrainian cities of Kharkiv and Kiev. He graduated from Kharkiv State Academy of Arts and Design in 2005, and gained attention in the late 2000s for his paintings that combine the human figure with a heightened awareness of paint as a material. In his figurative work, Volokitin paints human subjects against blank backgrounds, severing any signifying context while foregrounding psychological content.

In response to the turmoil and profusion of violence in his home country of Ukraine in recent years, Volokitin started to paint images of violent explosions, marking a shift in the subject matter of his paintings. A prominent figure in the Ukrainian Pavilion at the 2015 Venice Biennale, Volokitin was also the first artist to receive the PinchukArtCentre Prize, an award for early-career Ukrainian artists.