Mykola Ridnyi

Born 1985 in Kharkiv, Ukraine, where he currently lives and works. He graduated from the Kharkiv State Academy of Design and Arts. In 2005 he became co-founder and curator of the gallery-laboratory SOSka, an artist-run space for developing the local culture sphere in Kharkiv. Ridnyi was shortlisted for the PinchukArtCentre Prize 2011.

Through video, sculpture and installation, Mykola Ridnyi performs a critical reflection on the socio-political context of the post-soviet environment. His artistic statements are often constructed using a combination of documentary films with traditional figurative sculptures and found objects.

Recent exhibitions:
2013 – “Ukrainan News”, CSW Zamek Ujazdowsky, Warsaw, Poland
2012 – “Labor Circle”, CSW Zamek Ujazdowsky, Bank Pekao Project Room, Warsaw, Poland
2012 – “Environment. Expirience of non institutional relationships. Kharkiv, 2004– 2012”, Center for creative industies Fabrika, Moscow, Russia
2012 – “Shelter”, Kunstverein das weisse haus, Vienna, Austria
2011 – “Documents”, Small Gallery, Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv, Ukraine.

For the exhibition of the 20 shortlisted artists for the PinchukArtCentre Prize 2013, Ridnyi creates a new installation dealing with the position of police authority and its power within Ukrainian society. The work balances between a critical representation of power structures and the personal narrative of a former policeman who now works as a sculptor. Sculptures of military boots are shown together with small videos of protest and a disarming interview with the former policeman.