A contemporary Kazakhstani artist, designer, and curator. His works include graphics, objects, collages, installations, and performances. Key methods cover working at the intersection of craft, design, and high art; using everyday objects (kettles, hats, belts, buttons, glasses, keys, beads, etc.); assemblage, ornamentalism, symbolism, irony, and humour. Key themes are the sacred and the everyday, the magical, self-discovery, travelling, antiquity, and modernity.
V. Demidov studied at the Riga Red Banner Institute of Civil Aviation Engineers (RKIIGA), then transferred to the Almaty University of Power Engineering and Telecommunications named after Gumarbek Daukeyev, and later graduated from the Abai Kazakh National Pedagogical University (Faculty of Art and Graphic Design, 1988–1993). He worked as a graphic designer at Kaztorgreklama (1987–1997), taught (1995–1997), worked in galleries (Voyager, Almaty) and printing, and created works as an independent artist.
In Demidov’s artworks, everyday objects combine with symbols of antiquity, magic, and the sacred, giving rise to new meanings. They refer to shamanistic practices and leave room for subjective interpretation and reflection (“#яЕстьГриб,” 2020; “Shamanifique,” 2020). The multiplicity of meanings and interpretations is reflected in the technique of collage – assembling a whole from disparate parts (“Chronicles of One Voyage,” 2006). According to the artist, live contact with the artwork creates a shift in role from passive observer to active participant. V. Demidov’s designer hats are striking examples of such objects: despite their extravagance, they retain their practical function. They symbolise vitality, energy, and self-determination through their inherent humour and eccentricity (“Exhalation Crown,” 2020; “Social Sperm Cell,” 2020).
The artist has participated in group and solo exhibitions and festivals both in Kazakhstan and abroad: “Paintings and Graphics by V. Demidov” (“Blue Gallery,” Almaty, 1997); the festivals “InvAsia” (Orheiul Vechi, Chisinau, 2001) and “Tengri-Umai” (Almaty, 2002); “Mnogotoch i ee ee…” (“Alma-Ata” Art Centre, Almaty, 2012); “The Third Hemisphere” (“Asanbay Centre,” Bishkek, 2018); Fashion Week “White Nights” (St. Petersburg, 2020); and “INHALE–EXHALE or The Adventures of the Red Horse” (Dump Gallery, Almaty, 2024).
Information about V. Demidov is stored in the collection of the Documentation project – the archive of the Soros Center for Contemporary Art – Almaty (SCCA).
Photograph provided by Vsevolod Demidov