Nikita Shalenny
Acclaimed artist, Nikita Shalenny recently relocated to the US from Dnipro, Ukraine due to the war. His once thriving city has become a military hub for Ukrainian resistance.
Now a refugee in Los Angeles, Nikita spent the month of May 2023 living and working at House of Bossi in partnership with Biruchiy Art Residency and curator, Olena Speranska.
Shalenny graduated from the Prydniprovska State Academy of Civil Engineering and Architecture and worked as an architect and a lecturer at the Academy before beginning a full time career as an artist in 2011. Shalenny works with painting, video, photography, sculpture and installation and his work can be found in the collections of Mocak Museum of Contemporary Art in Krakow, Poland, The Faurschou Foundation in Copenhagen, and private collections throughout Europe and the UK.
His residency focuses on a new technique in acrylic painting that resembles watercolor. Each of the six large-scale paintings in his series titled I’m American explore themes of national identity and depict everyday people observed during his few weeks in America.
”When an immigrant artist or refugee raises the topic of I am American, they are also declaring themselves personally, putting themselves in the same line with the characters seen in the US and chosen as heroes in the artworks” comments Shalenny. The right to make such a statement is based on the fact that the portrait of an American and American culture was formed as a result of the integration of different cultures, peoples, and customs who made their personal, intentional, or forced escape towards freedom. The spirit of freedom, the desire to express oneself, and the desire for independence are the main features that, in my opinion, distinguish not only Americans but also us Ukrainians from the preserved and regressing societies of the post-Soviet era.”
Learn more about Nikita’s story and life in Ukraine by watching the short video below.
STATEMENT FROM THE ARTIST
NEW AVAILABLE WORKS
MADE AT HOUSE OF BOSSI
Acrylic on canvas
48” X 60” Stretched
2023, Nikita Shalenny at House of Bossi
$8,000
I’m American
Acrylic on canvas
48” X 60” Stretched
2023, Nikita Shalenny at House of Bossi
$8,000
I’m Play
Acrylic, oil sticks on canvas
48” X 60” Stretched
2023, Nikita Shalenny at House of Bossi
$8,000
I’m Freak
Acrylic on canvas
48” X 60” Stretched
2023, Nikita Shalenny at House of Bossi
$8,000
I’m Unrestraint
Acrylic on canvas
48” X 60” Stretched
2023, Nikita Shalenny at House of Bossi
$8,000
I’m Temple
Acrylic on canvas
60” X 48” Stretched
2023, Nikita Shalenny at House of Bossi
$8,000
I’m Icon
Studys
Smaller works for technical and composition development
Acrylic on canvas
12” X 9” Unstretched
2023, Nikita Shalenny at House of Bossi
$800
Study #1 for I’m American
Acrylic on canvas
12” X 9” Unstretched
2023, Nikita Shalenny at House of Bossi
$800
Study #2 for I’m American
Acrylic on canvas
20” X 16” Unstretched
2023, Nikita Shalenny at House of Bossi
$1,100
Study #3 for I’m American
Acrylic on canvas
12” X 9” Unstretched
2023, Nikita Shalenny at House of Bossi
$800
Study #1 for I’m Play
Acrylic on canvas
20” X 16” Unstretched
2023, Nikita Shalenny at House of Bossi
$1,100
Study #2 for I’m Play
Acrylic on canvas
12” X 9” Unstretched
2023, Nikita Shalenny at House of Bossi
$800
Study #1 for I’m Icon
Acrylic on canvas
12” X 9” Unstretched
2023, Nikita Shalenny at House of Bossi
$800
Study #2 for I’m Icon
Acrylic on canvas
20” X 16” Unstretched
2023, Nikita Shalenny at House of Bossi
SOLD
Study #3 for I’m Icon
Acrylic on canvas
12” X 9” Unstretched
2023, Nikita Shalenny at House of Bossi
SOLD
Study #1 for I’m Temple
Acrylic on canvas
12” X 9” Unstretched
2023, Nikita Shalenny at House of Bossi
$800
Technical Study #1
I’m American
I’m Play
I’m Freak
I’m Unrestraint
I’m Icon
I’m Temple
