Interview with Dmitriy Koloskow

Dmitriy Koloskow — Ukrainian painter and graffiti artist. For our CRASH TEST collection he made a painting the fragments of which were used in prints. For example, the red demon which became a symbol of the collection is his creation. Our art director Masha talked to Dmitriy about his art.

English translation: Nastya Ryzhkova

— Where are you from? How did you start doing art?

— I’m from Odessa, Ukraine. I don’t know if I ever started making art. I don’t think that what I’m doing can be called art. So it seems I never did. I started drawing graffiti at school.

— How did you come up with your nickname Eugor? What does it mean?

— I don’t think it makes sense to tell. This is quite a coincidence of different circumstances, but in general they are not particularly important. A nickname itself has nothing interesting to graffiti, but when people see it regularly on the streets, it compels attention. 

— Where did you passion for graffiti start?

— I can’t say for sure where the first impulse for drawing on the streets came from. Then, arguing this process for myself, I came to the conclusion that first of all the gesture itself was important for me, not its aesthetic component. When I was in about the 8th grade and saw graffiti for the first time, it wasn't the image itself that surprised me, but the fact that you can put whatever you want on the wall without asking anyone. That rebellious mood was paramount for me. Leaving signs where they shouldn't be. Then I was attracted by the irrationality of this occupation. You spend a lot of physical and material resources on a kind of obsessive occupation, which in fact doesn't bring you anything in return.

— Well, why do you say so? Over time people start recognizing you, anyway you get some fame as a graffiti artist, doesn't it matter?

— Yes, there is some inside hierarchy in which this sporting interest is important. But all this has a symbolic meaning and doesn't affect your life in a special way. Except that people who also draw graffiti may know you and respect what you do.

— Then you moved from graffiti to painting. If what you do is not art, how would you define it?

— Now I devote much more energy to painting than to graffiti. I apply paints on a wide variety of surfaces from canvas to freight cars, but it’s far from art.

— I saw your Facebook post in which you say that you have to carry heavy metal objects at work. What else do you do besides painting?

— Now I don’t do anything except artistic activity, but lately I’ve been working in the car market, where I had to carry heavy metal items in cold weather.

— According to your Facebook posts it seems that you actively follow what is happening with contemporary art in Odessa, in Ukraine and in general. Where does such interest come from if you aren't involved in all these processes?

— In general, I really like contemporary art and what happens with it since the beginning of post-impressionism. And like any other person I have my own preferences or vice versa. My favorite artists are Igor Chatskin from Odessa and Stas Volyazlovsky. They greatly influenced my perception of what art is all about. And of course, Marcel Duchamp, who contributed so much to contemporary art like no one else. But all this involvement into the context of contemporary art doesn't make me an artist, even though I paint pictures by myself.

— Your works are exhibited at the Odessa Museum. Looks like you are a museum artist (let’s say, not for yourself, but at least for those who see your works in the museum). What has changed according to your feelings after your works got there?

— I don’t know, maybe a little more people find out my works, but they remain absolutely marginal and unattractive for most people.

— And do you really care about the feedback from those who see your work?

— In general, the feedback from people is important to me. I'm glad when there are people who sympathize with what I do. But in general, when I draw something, I focus primarily on myself, and in the process of drawing I don’t think about the viewer.

— Who basically buys your works?

— Honestly, these are the most diverse people: from young ones to old enough and in high positions. For example, once my painting was bought by the chief ambassador of the European Union in Ukraine.

— How do you feel about museums? There is an opinion that museums are a relic, and now anyone can show their works through social media and all kinds of platforms, and people who are interested can find what they need by themselves. The curators are people with outdated ideas about what deserves attention and what does not. Do you think museums are needed?

— Necessarily needed. People can show their creativity in social media, but museums exist as some kind of communication centers between the viewer and the art. Direct contact with the pictures (I'm not talking about installations in which space itself is part of the work) gives a more complete picture than the image on the phone with a screen in two matchboxes.

— Here is your painting and its elements on the prints of our brand clothes. What do you feel about this?

— I take it positively, I like it, it amuses me :)

— Is there someone you would like to collaborate with? Gallery, brand, artist, whatever.

— I would like collaborate with rapper Face, I don’t want to with anyone else. I like both his lyrics and music, and him as a character.