[spectre] EAFinfo: OLEG KULIK

[EAF Director]

OLEG KULIK
System of Coordinates 2004
Actions and Performances 1994-1999

7-30 October 2004
EXPERIMENTAL ART FOUNDATION

"...Kulik is one of the most radical and profound artists working 
today. The Russian context - both Soviet and post-Soviet - from which 
he springs provides a key to an understanding of his motivation, but 
his message is universal: 'Anthropomorphism has exhausted itself. Can 
Man forecast earthquakes like a small aquarium fish? Can he smell 
like a dog, be lithe like a cat? Does he know the secret of 
harmonious social life like that of an ant or a bee? No. besides 
that, an animal cannot lie, pretend, deceive and cower.'

Kulik is clearly unimpressed by humanity, in a way not unlike that of 
William Blake in this country during the so-called Age of 
Enlightenment. Both artists express their abhorrence of human 
corruption and, at the same time, propose a strong vision of the 
future. Like Kulik, Blake was badly misunderstood and his actions, 
such as sitting outdoors naked with his wife, whilst reading Milton's 
Paradise Lost, were cited as evidence of a certain madness. With the 
benefit of hindsight, increasingly, we have come to appreciate Blake 
as a rare insightful figure with the courage of his convictions. The 
same should be said for Kulik."

Jonathan Watkins
Oleg Kulik: Art Animal
Published by Ikon Gallery, England, 2001; ISBN 0907594751
-- 
EXPERIMENTAL ART FOUNDATION curates its exhibition program to 
represent new work that expands current debates and ideas in 
contemporary visual art. The EAF incorporates a gallery space, 
bookshop and artists studios.

Lion Arts Centre North Terrace at Morphett Street Adelaide
PO Box 8091 Station Arcade South Australia 5000
Tel: +618 8211 7505  Fax +618 8211 7323
email: eaf at eaf.asn.au  bookshop email: eafbooks at eaf.asn.au web: 
http://www.eaf.asn.au
Director: Melentie Pandilovski  Administrator: Julie Lawton
Program Manager: Michael Grimm Bookshop Manager: Ken Bolton

The Experimental Art Foundation is assisted by the Commonwealth 
Government through the Australia Council, it arts funding and 
advisory body, by the South Australian Government through Arts SA, 
and through the Visual Arts and Craft Strategy, an initiative of the 
Australian, State and Territory Governments. The EAF is proudly 
smoke-free.