Painter
· Born in 1985
- Ukraine
Oleksandr Balbyshev
323 Artworks
Oleksandr Balbyshev
Ukraine
Credentials
- Social Media Star
- Experienced Artist
« My art is selfish. Picturing something on my canvas, I take it into my soul. I draw only what I consider very beautiful, what I want to possess. »
Oleksandr Balbyshev is a Ukrainian contemporary artist based in Germany. Combining oil painting with Soviet-era found objects, his practice explores queer identity, masculinity, vulnerability, historical memory, and ideological symbols.
His paintings focus on the male body, using vivid color, sensuality, and art-historical references to challenge discomfort around male nudity. He presents masculinity through tenderness, desire, uncertainty, and emotional openness rather than dominance.
A second direction transforms Soviet portraits, sculptures, and propaganda objects. Through overpainting, fragmentation, and playful interventions, Balbyshev strips them of ideological authority and creates new visual and emotional meanings.
Both directions connect personal experience with questions of identity, memory, power, and cultural transformation. His works are held in private collections across Europe, North America, Australia, and beyond.
His paintings focus on the male body, using vivid color, sensuality, and art-historical references to challenge discomfort around male nudity. He presents masculinity through tenderness, desire, uncertainty, and emotional openness rather than dominance.
A second direction transforms Soviet portraits, sculptures, and propaganda objects. Through overpainting, fragmentation, and playful interventions, Balbyshev strips them of ideological authority and creates new visual and emotional meanings.
Both directions connect personal experience with questions of identity, memory, power, and cultural transformation. His works are held in private collections across Europe, North America, Australia, and beyond.
- Nationality
- Ukraine
- Born
- 1985
- Mediums
- Painter
La belleza de la diferencia: Arte internacional de nuestro tiempo / Auditorium “Rafa Doménech”, Conservatorio Municipal de Música y Danza - Benidorm, Spain
Cuerpos visibles: arte y deseo / Espai d’Art, Ayuntamiento de Benidorm - Benidorm, Spain
Affordable Art Fair Amsterdam / SINGULART, Booth A5 - Amsterdam, Netherlands
Pride Art Walk — Featured Artist / Altform Gallery - Palm Springs, United States
ART GAYSEL / Hôtel Gaythering - Miami Beach, United States
Fata Morgana / Art Gallery "Cossack, 7" - Zaporizhia, Ukraine
Fata Morgana / Museum "Literary Pridneprovie" - Dnipro, Ukraine
Rise Art Curators- Q&A WITH OLEKSANDR BALBYSHEV
Patrick McNaughton- feature: citizen ‘kraine
Anne Devailly- LES MÉTAMORPHOSES DE LÉNINE
Singulart Magazine- Five Minutes with Oleksandr Balbyshev
Artfinder Blog- 5 Ukrainian artists you should know
Artfinder Curators- The Artfinder Catalogue
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