Fragment Gallery presents in Moscow Jura Shust’s solo project “NEOPHYTE”. The artist was born and raised in Belarus, he is currently living and working In Berlin. In his artistic practice, Jura Shust poses questions of the connection between technology, science and bio-politics with rituals and myths.
“NEOPHYTE” project, blending the archaic with the post-industrial while reviving the sacred concept of humankind’s inclusion in the global system, is an effort to shed light upon the intimate ties that bind together technology and society. Working with a wide range of forms and media, Shust constructs the exposition from several mediums — video, graphics and sculptural composition. The central work of the project is video based on an analogy with prevalent among Slavs pagan legend about pursuit of the fern flower granting wishes on the eve of Ivan Kupala Day and drug “treasure” — a group of young people roams through the woods in pursuit of happiness, however imaginary it might be. The items depicted in the video are also showcased and illuminated in the gallery. A collection of sculptures from iron soles turned into luminous panels at the same time resembles mysterious cryptographic messages and delicate patterns of vytynanka, a traditional Belorussian ornament cut from paper.
Created on the basis of symbiosis of high-tech and ordinary materials, the works of the artist explore the spirit of the age through visual codes and modern life markers.
The project’s narrative graphics are accompanied by attention heat maps (data visualisation tool used to determine which areas get the most attention at a webpage) custom-generated by the user-experience lab of an IT corporation.
In the shape of an absurd dystopian fairy tale, the “NEOPHYTE” explores the role of mystery and privacy, reveals the contemporary forms of omnipresent and comprehensive strategies of control, articulating the reviving struggle for decentralization.
Age limit: 18+
Jura Shust was born in Maladzyechna (Belarus) in 1983. He holds MA in Fine Arts at KASK (Ghent, BE), BA in Media Communication at EHU (Vilnius, LT) and the diploma of Higher Institute for Fine Arts, HISK (Ghent, BE).
In his artistic practice, he raises issues of the connection of rituals and myths with technology, science and bio-politics.
Created from hi-tech and everyday materials, Shust’s projects draw attention to the contradictions of modernity: passion for rational knowledge and fetishism, inclusion in contemporary communicative networks and archaic worldview.
He works mostly with installation, graphics, video.
Since 2012 he was exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art GFZK (Leipzig, DE), Contemporary Art Museum S.M.A.K. (Ghent,BE), Museum de Domijnen (Sittard, NL), Calvert 22 Foundation (London, UK), Blaffer Art Museum (Houston, Texas, US) and many other galleries.
In 2016 he took part in the 5th Biennale for Young Art in Moscow.
Beside his artistic practice, Shust is a founder and an editor of the international dialogues platform for artists and curators – Saliva.live. Today Shust’s works are held in private and public collections, including the collection of S.M.A.K. museum.