Olya Kroytor (b. 1986) is a Moscow-based artist and educator working with the media of performance, video, and photography. In her practice, Kroytor explores the human condition and universal existential problems through putting her body to the test—putting it at risk in open public spaces. An ICA Moscow graduate, Kroytor has received many prestigious grants and awards, and her works can be found in public and private collections worldwide.
Recommended by Olesya Turkina
The Scary Room, 2019. Solyanka VPA Gallery. In a space similar to a visiting room of a prison, Kroytor would ask participants, “What would you like to be free of?” Conversations would last for 20 minutes
The Overcome, 2015. Street Art Museum, Saint Petersburg. The attempts to overcome the resistance of the rope, the gravitational pull, and the wind that continuously changes the amplitude of the rocking are the real suffering of the present
Cocoon, 2016. Archstoyanie Festival of Landscape Objects, Kaluga Region. A cocoon becomes a symbol of protection and a harbinger of something new but simultaneously, a warning that with time, a place of safety can become dangerous for its inhabitant
I’m Sorry I’m Too Late, 2019. Leveldva space. The artist was acting at a dinner party the way she’d act if she were at home: taking a bath, reading a book, etc. 3 hours later, she got changed and emerged before the audience saying, “Sorry, I’m late”
Untitled, 2013. Archstoyanie Festival of Landscape Objects, Kaluga Region. Here, Kroytor reflected on the relationship between the artist and the work by putting her own body behind glass, where her work could be
Adaptation, 2019. K. A. Timiryazevs State Biological Museum, Moscow. Voice performance: Alexey Kokhanov, curator: Dasha Demekhina, lighting: Alena Osina, director/DP: Philip Yakushin
2344. Penetration, 2018. “Here and now“, Central Exhibition Hall Manege, Moscow. 2344 refers to the length of the thread that the artist’s dress was made of. The dress becomes a “shell” that everyone needs to remove by naturally making their own path
Dreams, 2019. MMOMA, Moscow. This work was created for Yoko Ono’s personal exhibition in Moscow, where 6 local artists were invited to recreate Ono’s work Water Event (1971)
Extras, 2015-2019. A series of photographs reflecting on presence and disappearance
