Oksana Mas was born in 1969 in Ukraine.
Currently lives and works in Figueiras, Spain.

Oksana Mas is an artist, philosopher, humanist, urbanist, theorist and popularizer of contemporary art.
She participated in the 54th Venice Biennale (with a solo project, represented Ukraine), in the 55th Venice Biennale, in the 65th Film Festival in Locarno, at the Biennale "Women and Art" in Sharjah, UAE, and in numerous international exhibitions: Art Basel Miami (Miami, USA), Frieze (London, UK), FIAC (Paris), ARCOmadrid (Madrid, Spain), The Armory Show (New York, USA), Art Dubai (Dubai, UAE).

Oksana's works are sold at Sotheby's, Christie's and Phillips and are in museum and private collections such as the Moscow Museum of Modern Art, Stella Art Foundation, BREUS Foundation, Joerg Bongartz Collection, Sorelouzos Family Art Museum, Capital Group Art Foundation, Ekaterina Foundation , collections of Victor Pinchuk and Viktor Bondarenko.

EDUCATION:

• 2019 — Master of Fine Arts, decorative art and restoration at Poltava National Technical University
• 2014 — Master's degree in philosophy at Odessa State University named after Mechnikov
• 2003 — Bachelor of Philosophy at Odessa State University named after Mechnikov
• 1992 — Odessa State School of Arts named after M.B. Grekov
• 1986 — Illichivsk School of Arts (Illichivsk, Odessa region, Ukraine)

PERSONAL EXHIBITIONS:

• 2019 — AMBIT. Galeria d’Art, Barcelona, ​​Spain
• 2018 — Oksana Mas. Spiritual cities. Sotheby’s, Milan, Italy
• 2017 — Oksana Mas. Spiritual cities. Art Ukraine Gallery, Kiev, Ukraine
• 2017 — Oksana Mas. Spiritual cities. MA*GA Museum, Galarate, Italy
• 2017 — Oksana Mas. Spiritual Cities. Malpensa Airport, Milano, Italy
• 2017 — Gravity and glass. NK Gallery, Antwerp, Belgium
• 2015 — Oksana Mas. Get together. ArtFactory Istambul, Istanbul, Turkey
• 2014 — Oksana Mas. Kasteyev State Museum of Arts, Kazakhstan, Almaty
• 2013 — Renewal of the Sacred. House of the Nobleman, London, UK
• 2013-2011 — Biomorphic realism. Mironova Gallery, Kiev, Ukraine
• 2012, 2018 — Die Gestalt. TRIUMPH Gallery, Moscow, Russia
• 2012 — Black & White. Bengelsträter Gallery, Dusseldorf, Germany
• 2012 — River Gallery, Bratislava, Slovakia
• 2012 — Helium-3 and other Works. Barbarian gallery, Zurich, Switzerland
• 2012 — Barclays Bank, Zurich, Switzerland
• 2011 — Post-vs-Proto-Renaissance. Ukrainian Pavilion. 54th Venice Biennale, Italy
• 2010 — Helium-3. Aidan Gallery, Moscow, Russia
• 2010 — Retrospective. Casamor’s Foundation, Museo Dali de Figueras, Figeyras, Spain
• 2009 — When Stars Align. Zorya Fine Art Gallery, New York, USA
• 2009, 2008 — Mimesis Gallery, Geneva, Switzerland
• 2008 — MAS. Moscow Museum of Modern Art, Moscow, Russia
• 2007 — Hired to Dream. Aidan Gallery, Moscow, Russia
• 2006 — Assembly point. Gallery T. Ladyzhinsky, Odessa, Ukraine
• 2005 — Photo exhibition "The phenomenon of epidermism." Gallery "Karas", Kiev, Ukraine
• 2005 — Black and white reverse. RIS Gallery, Barcelona, ​​Spain
• 2004 — Oksana Mas. Odessa State Art Museum, Odessa, Ukraine
• 2003 — Oksana Mas. Museum of Western-Eastern Art, Odessa, Ukraine
• 2003 — Everyday Originality. Exhibition Hall of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Kiev, Ukraine
• 2002 — Oksana Mas. Center for Contemporary Art "Soviart", Kiev, Ukraine
• 2002 — The project "365". Central exhibition complex "Morvokzal", Odessa, Ukraine
• 2001 — Oksana Mas. Odessa State Art Museum, Odessa, Ukraine
• 1997 — Oksana Mas. Picture Gallery Valkenburg, Netherlands
• 1997 — Oksana Mas. M-Gallery, Prague, Czech Republic
• 1997 — Oksana Mas. Museum of Fine Arts, Illichivsk, Ukraine
• 1995 — Oksana Mas. Museum of Fine Arts, Illichivsk, Ukraine
• 1995 — Oksana Mas. Central Exhibition Hall of the Union of Artists, Kiev, Ukraine
• 1995 — Oksana Mas. UN Exhibition Hall in Ukraine, Kiev, Ukraine

GROUP EXHIBITIONS:

• 2020 — Cosmoscow Art Fair, Москва, Россия
• 2019 — AMBIT. Galeria d’Art, Barcelona, ​​Spain
• 2018 — Oksana Mas Monostand at Shanghai Design Exhibition
• 2017 — Contemporary Istanbul. Monostand NK Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey
• 2016 — COSMOSCOW 2016. Monostand of the International Heritage Art Gallery
• 2014 — 5th Biennale of female art "Women and Art". Museum of Modern Art, Sharjah, UAE
• 2013 — Project "Glasstress" at the 55th Venice Biennale. Venice, Italy
• 2013 — Art India. Mumbai, India
• 2013 — White Light / White Heat. Glasstress project for the 55th Venice Biennale. London, Great Britain
• 2013 — Pre-auction exhibition. Munich, Germany
• 2013, 2009 - Sotheby's pre-auction exhibition. London, Great Britain
• 2013 — Christie's Pre-auction Exhibition. London, Great Britain
• 2012 — MAS & PICASSO. Monte Carlo, Monaco
• 2012 — ViennaFair. Vienna, Austria
• 2013-2011 — Art Karlsruhe. Karlsruhe, Germany
• 2011 — 54 Venetian Biennale. Venice, Italy
• 2011 — The Glory of Ukraine. International Meridian Center, Washington, USA
• 2010-2006 — ART Moscow. Moscow, Russia
• 2010 — ART Chicago. Chicago, USA
• 2010-2007 — Fiac. Paris, France
• 2010 — ARCO. Madrid, Spain
• 2010-2008, 2006 — Art Dubai. Dubai, UAE
• 2009 — The Armory Show. New York, USA
• 2013, 2011-2009 — ART Kiev. Kiev, Ukraine
• 2007 — The Movement. Evolution. Art. Cultural Foundation "Ekaterina", Moscow, Russia
• 2007, 2006 — Art Basel Miami. Miami, USA
• 2010, 2009, 2005 — Group exhibitions at the Aidan Gallery. Moscow, Russia
• 2005 — Moscow International Fair of Fine Arts. Manege, Moscow, Russia
• 1999 — Foundation of Russian Artists. Paris, France
• 1999 — Golden-Art-Gallery. Cologne, Germany
• 2000, 1998 — "Marine-2000" Biennale. Odessa, Ukraine
• 1997 — Hall Gallery, Amsterdam, Netherlands
• 1997 — Municipal Exhibition Hall, Maastricht, Netherlands
• 1996 — French Cultural Center, Kiev, Ukraine

SPECIAL PROJECTS:

• 2012 — Oksana Mas's project “The Phenomenon of Epidermism” won an independent critics prize at the 65th Locarno Film Festival
• 2011 — The unique mosaic group “Look Into Eternity”, consisting of 15,000 hand-painted Easter eggs, was donated and installed at the Hagia Sophia of Kiev Museum (XI century)
• 2011 — On the central avenue of Monte Carlo Henri Dunant, the works of the “Sphere of Good and Spiritual Renaissance” by Oksana Mas were installed. Prince Albert II of Monaco chose Oksana Mas's “Spheres of Good and Spiritual Revival” and Anish Kapoor mirrors for installation in Monte Carlo, Monaco

THEY ARE AMOUNG US

The biblical subtext is nearly omnipresent in contemporary art. It's the inertia of Christian civilization, which rules the sphere of sublime and symbolic. Attempts to link images to the Good Book are natural in cases where a dimension of timelessness is needed. Oksana Mas is also interested in the tension between mythology and image, and so she infuses her series "They are among Us" with biblical subtexts. The heroes of the series are common both for her work and the recreational urban spaces she scans to find the subjects for her paintings. Starting from the Renaissance the artist looks for a model to feature in his take on the biblical theme. Mas goes the other way round: her beloved scenes of rest and bliss are inscribed with biblical allusions. The series bear a stylistic resemblance to the base layer of paintings in the "Hired to Dream" series. Full-color paintings become more abstract, however, the contours wander, appear and disappear, and the forms tend to sphere in the style of Hans Arp or early Archile Gorky. Sometimes the paintings give an air of gothic glass-stained windows; the use of lacquer enforces that impression. The people and the space in paintings tend to be close in form and color intensity. The colors feel saturated, much like in decoratively rich paintings of Pierre Bonnard or Eduard Vuillard. One of the most memorable images of the series is called "God's Fool". It is an ageless person seated near a couple of young(ish) women. His facial features are erased in a manner of 1920s Malevich. In his depictions of kolkhoz workers, he searched for a formula to paint the body after abstraction. It seems that there has been a sacral subtext at work also: Malevich wanted to find an ideal type. This type was not to be depicted with the help of individualization and other realistic techniques. Mas has other reasons to "forget" the facial features. Biblical heroes emerge anonymously; they converge with the fabric of the outside world. Otherwise Mas' narrative would come too close to be particular, and the images would fall prey to endless references to iconography of the past. Plus, Mas is not a witness to a miracle, but simply arranges the constellations of matter "by the Book", according to an overused mythology. It's not surprising then, that some compositions are taken whale from other series by Mas. Acouple reclining on the grass is, of course, "Hired to Dream". Pigeons, as always, make reappearance, but Mas is reluctant to let them play roles from the Bible. As ever, the space of Mas' paintings is more readily associated with the subject of "Rest on the Flight to Egypt", and if the depicted people are close to revealing their biblical selves, their actions are bound to be as peaceful as the atmosphere that surrounds them.

Text Valentine Djakonov

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS:

• mmoma.ru/exhibitions/petrovka25/oksana_mas/
• www.interior.ru/art/2817-oksana-mas-transfiguratsiya.html
• www.heritage-gallery.ru/kopiya-art-lanskoj
• moskvichmag.ru/lyudi/eto-moj-gorod-hudozhnitsa-oksana-mas/
• viola.bz/egg-mosaics-by-oksana-mas/
• vsemart.com/painted-egg-mosaics-oksana-mas/
• www.meridian.org/thegloryofukraine/oksanagallery.html
• estetmag.ru/365-zhizn-na-vsyu-ostavshuyusya-zhizn-personalnaya-vystavka-oksany-mas-v-cube-moscow
• snob.ru/entry/157604/