Main image: Viktor Kolosov (Facebook page)
The thirty-sixth interview through images by Andrew Sheptunov
Viktor Kolosov is a truly original and multifaceted figure on the Ukrainian art scene. Combining the experience of a deep-sea captain with the subtle worldview of a conceptual artist, he creates art that transcends conventional genres. His canvases are not merely paintings, but philosophical reflections captured on canvas, seasoned with a healthy dose of irony and absurdity.
Kolosov's path to art has been inextricably linked with the sea. After graduating from a maritime college, he spent many years on long voyages, visiting more than sixty countries around the world. These wanderings became a kind of personal academy for him: in every port, in every European capital, he eagerly studied the collections of major museums and galleries, absorbing the visual heritage of the great masters. It was this well-observed, global context that shaped his profound understanding of color, form, and art history.
Odessa occupies a special, defining place in Viktor’s life and work. Having moved here in 1984, he found not only his home but also an ideal environment that resonates with his inner worldview. The city, with its unique local flavor, love for freedom, and penchant for self-irony, became both a muse and a grateful space for the artist, embracing his bold pictorial experiments.
Speaking of Kolosov’s connection with Odessa, it is impossible not to mention his crucial role in shaping the local independent art scene. Viktor initiated the creation of the famous Odessa art squat in Observatornyi Lane. This space became a true place of power for the creative intelligentsia, where new ideas of contemporary art were born in an atmosphere of absolute freedom, endless discussions, and artistic mischief.
Viktor Kolosov's painting style is paradoxical and recognizable at first glance. He masterfully balances between modern conceptualism and what he himself called the "rehabilitation of the lubok" (traditional popular print) in one of his series. The deliberately simple, sometimes naive, and exaggerated forms in his works burst with incredibly open, dense color. Kolosov is not afraid of bright accents and multi-layered textures of acrylic and oil, which make his paintings highly energetic and tangible.
His works often function as "photographs of thoughts" — fleeting ideas captured on canvas. In them, the artist explores the very "law of peace of mind," trying to find a point of harmony in a world that often seems absurd. His canvases almost always play a game with the viewer: the paradoxical titles of the paintings act as an independent artistic tool capable of turning the initial perception of the subject upside down.
Behind the outward brightness and apparent lightness of his works, a deep metaphor is invariably hidden.
The most ordinary, everyday objects or sketches on Kolosov's canvases turn into polysemantic symbols, and modern stereotypes are subjected to subtle, gentle mockery. This is art that invites the viewer to an intellectual dialogue, demanding attentiveness and a readiness to think outside the box.
To better reveal Viktor Kolosov's inner world, we decided to abandon the traditional text interview. For the artist, his creativity always remains the most honest and precise language. We asked Viktor a series of questions about his life, philosophy, and creative quest, to which he answered not with words, but with his paintings. We invite you to immerse yourself in this unique visual dialogue and look at the world through the eyes of the master.
1. Which of your works best conveys that very "peace of mind" when the world around you seems slightly absurd?
2. Which artwork can be called a true "photograph of your thought," capturing a fleeting idea before it disappeared completely?
3. Which canvas hides the most paradoxical or unconventional story that happened right during its creation?
4. Share a canvas where deep irony about modernity is hidden behind deliberately simple, almost lubok-like forms.
5. Reveal an artwork to us in which you allowed yourself the maximum degree of artistic mischief and deliberate rejection of the rules.
6. Which of your works best illustrates that invisible creative energy that once reigned in the Odessa art squat in Observatornyi Lane?
7. Which work is your silent dialogue with the great masters whose masterpieces you studied in museums across Europe?
8. Share a canvas that best conveys the subtle feeling of returning to your true roots after many years of life's storms.
9. Which of your works traditionally causes the most debate and completely polar interpretations from the public at exhibitions?
10. Which artwork most accurately embodies your inner dialogue with Odessa — the city that embraced you and became your home?
11. Reveal a work to us where the most ordinary, everyday objects suddenly acquire a deep metaphorical or even mystical meaning.
12. Which painting, in your opinion, can tell much more about the personality of Viktor Kolosov than any detailed official biography?
Every canvas by Viktor Kolosov is an open invitation to reflection, where deep meaning is always hidden behind exaggerated forms and paradoxical subjects. This visual dialogue only slightly opens the door to the unique universe of the artist, who masterfully turns the ordinary into a metaphor and continues to explore his "law of peace of mind."
The master's creative quest never stops, and each of his new works is another challenge to our familiar perception of reality. To continue getting acquainted with Viktor Kolosov's art, to follow the process of creating paintings, and to be the first to see his fresh "photographs of thoughts," join the author's pages on social networks:
- Instagram: viktor.kolosov
- Facebook: Viktor Kolosov
