He was born in Novorossiysk, on the Black Sea, and in the early 1980s moved to Saint Petersburg, where he met and became friends with leaders of the art scene there, such as the painter Timur Novikov and musician Boris Grebenshchikov. Shortly thereafter he adopted the artistic moniker "Afrika" and began working as an artist himself. In 1987 he starred as Bananan, the lead character in the groundbreakingly avant garde film "ASSA" by Russian film director Sergei Soloviov.
Afrika works mainly in performance and installation art. His 1993 project "Krimania" took the form of an initial performance, which involved the artist spending three weeks in a mental institution in Simferopol, Crimea, at the end of which he staged an exhibition for the patients and staff of the hospital.
The second part of the project was a major exhibition at the Museum of Applied Arts in Vienna (MAK), entitled "Krimania: Icons, Monuments, Mazáfaka." The work addresses the issue of collective versus individual identity of the Soviet citizen after the breakup of the Soviet Union.
In 1999 Afrika represented Russia at the 48th Venice Biennale. He currently lives and works in Saint Petersburg, Miami and New York. |
