Sergey Bratkov / Сергій Братков
° 1960
Born in Kharkiv (UA), lives in Berlin (DE).
Sergey Bratkov (°1960) was born in Kharkiv, Ukraine, where he finished his studies at the Kharkiv State School of Art in 1978 and at the Polytechnic Academy in 1983. As a photographer, he became a member of the artists’ collective Litera A in the 1980s, and subsequently of the Rapid Response Group, which is known for creating provocative photo campaigns, as a reaction to political and social atrocities. Bratkov has been living and working in Moscow since 2000.
He creates series of photos, (video-)installations and performances. His works reflect the social reality of Russia and Ukraine, focussing on the life of the homeless, the poor and the impoverished middle-class. He shows social poverty in post-Soviet daily life and transforms it through very specific, at times absurd, choices in his imagery. His work is known for its brutal openness and biting irony, whereby provocation is a necessary evil for achieving the goal of gaining sharper insights. With his carefully staged visual language, Bratkov questions propaganda of a continent in transition: caught between a glorification of the Soviet system, on the one hand, and the illusion of a free market on the other hand, which has been idealised by mass media. These serially conceived photos of Bratkov are his artistic witnesses of social resistance. In 2002 Sergey Bratkov took part in the 25th São Paulo Biennale and in 2007 he was represented in the Ukrainian pavilion at the 52nd Venice Biennale.
>Sergey Bratkov / Сергій Братков, Bedtime Stories, 1998.Photography, 12 x (50 x 60 cm).
>Sergey Bratkov / Сергій Братков, Kids (Children), 2000.Photography, 8 x (40 x 30 cm).
>Sergey Bratkov / Сергій Братков, Fighters without Rules / Бійці без правил, 2000.Photography, photo on aluminium, 6 x (90 x 60 cm).
>Sergey Bratkov / Сергій Братков, Army girls / Армійські дівчата, 2000.Photography, 10 x (90 x 60 cm).
>Sergey Bratkov / Сергій Братков, Portraits of the lawyer and his wife, 2000.Photography, 2 x (70 x 52 cm).
>Sergey Bratkov / Сергій Братков, Italian School, 2001.Video, vhs, dvd, 00:25:00.
>Sergey Bratkov / Сергій Братков, Italian School / Італійська школа, 2001.Photography, (x9).
>Sergey Bratkov / Сергій Братков, Glue sniffers, 2001.Photography, photo on aluminium, 7 x (90 x 90 cm).
>Sergey Bratkov / Сергій Братков, Fayur - Soyuz, 2002.Photography, 5 x ( 90 x 60 cm).
>Sergey Bratkov / Сергій Братков, Life is pain, 2002.Video, dvd, 00:05:51 min.
>Sergey Bratkov / Сергій Братков, Kuzminki, 2002.Video, dvd, 00:04:30 min.
>Sergey Bratkov / Сергій Братков, Pilots and stewardesses, 2003.Photography, photo on aluminium, 7 x (40 x 30 cm).
>Sergey Bratkov / Сергій Братков, Polina, 2003.Photography, 150 x 100 cm.
>Sergey Bratkov / Сергій Братков, Boxes, 2009.Installation, wood, plastic, paper.
>Sergey Bratkov / Сергій Братков, Eurotel / Євроготель, 2009.Installation.
>Sergey Bratkov / Сергій Братков, Lost, 2022.Print, digital print, acrylic, synthetic fabric, 214 x 144 cm.
>Sergey Bratkov / Сергій Братков, Архітектурні вимірювання / Architectural Measurements, 2022.Video.
Exhibitions & Ensembles
> Exhibition: EXTRA MUROS: Geel – Middle Gate II – The Story of Dymphna. 15 September 2018 - 04 November 2018.
> Exhibition: EXTRA MUROS: Visite Diest. 27 November 2014 - 21 December 2014.
> Exhibition: Horizons of Reality. 15 March 2003 - 01 June 2003.
> Exhibition: Imagine Ukraine. 06 May 2022 - 28 August 2022.
> Exhibition: Imagine Ukraine – Art as a Critical Attitude. 06 May 2022 - 28 August 2022.
> Exhibition: Imagine Ukraine – Small and Big Stories. 06 May 2022 - 19 June 2022.
> Exhibition: Imagine Ukraine – The Artist as a Witness. 05 May 2022 - 21 August 2022.
> Exhibition: Let's Play Museum. 10 June 2023 - 17 September 2023.
> Exhibition: Museum E!: Els Vanden Meersch – Storyboard. 28 January 2017 - 25 February 2017.
> Exhibition: Museum E!: The residents' choice. 23 April 2017 - 22 October 2017.
> Exhibition: The collection XXXIII – The Collection as a Character. 07 June 2013 - 22 September 2013.
> Exhibition: The Melancholy of Resistance. 06 November 2010 - 03 January 2011.
> Exhibition: Visite Herentals - Reflections. 13 October 2012 - 04 November 2012.
> Exhibition: Visite Roeselare – The Green Line. 05 May 2016 - 19 June 2016.
> Exhibition: Worth Fighting For. 14 November 2022 - 14 December 2022.
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> Ensemble: Catastrophe and The Relevance of Art.
> Ensemble: EUROPE AT LARGE.
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> Ensemble: IMAGINE UKRAINE - Exhibitions.
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> Ensemble: In Solidarity with Ukraine.
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> Ensemble: Life is Pain.
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> Ensemble: M HKA_DEFAULT_WORKS.
> Ensemble: Middle Gate.
> Ensemble: NUCLEUS.
> Ensemble: WAANZIN | MADNESS.
> Ensemble: Worth Fighting For.
> Ensemble: Уяви Україну – Маленькі та великі історії / Imagine Ukraine – Small and Big Stories.
> Ensemble: Уяви Україну – Мистецтво як критичне ставлення / Imagine Ukraine – Art as a Critical Attitude.
> Ensemble: Уяви Україну – Митець як свідок / Imagine Ukraine – The Artist as a Witness.