Kulov is an interdisciplinary artist whose work operates at the intersection of performance, propaganda and activism. As art critic (and former editor of the LA Weekly) Shana Nys Dambrot wrote, “Kulov is something of an agent provocateur. Their work across performance art, public installations, publishing, video, mail art, outdoor billboards and more, repurposes visual strategies of a post–Cold-War youth to insightfully comment on the current state of society and politics — in the art world and beyond. Kulov’s art often sparks controversy, but always aims for progress toward a greater, more inclusive good”
For Kulov, art can be a dramatic medium that can be employed as a lightning rod for social discourse.
A graduate of California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) with a master’s degree in Aesthetics & Politics, Kulov is the recipient of grants and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the Andy Warhol Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation and the Art Matters Foundation. For the past few years, the main focus of their art practice has become the creation of artist’s books. Their limited-edition Kulov 90-00 > A Decade of Transformation is part of the artist’s book collections of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago and the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. An updated version of that book, Kulov 90-15, was released to popular public acclaim, indicating a growing unrest and dissatisfaction with Trump's first administration, halfway through its term (see video below). And their most recent book, entitled The East, The West and the Restless, is written as (and from the perspective of) their performance-art character Malgorzata Romanska — a mega art collector and philanthropist with Eastern European origins and perhaps Kulov’s most notable work.
For years, Kulov’s performances as Malgorzata Romanska were an ubiquitous presence at major international art fairs in both Europe and the U.S., as well as at fundraising auctions for major art institutions — purchasing from galleries and bidding on art as Ms. Romanska for her contemporary art collection. By blurring the lines between performance and reality, and thus infusing the character with a certain financial power, Kulov was able to orchestrate not just a queer (and even transgender) presence, but also a kind of “invasion” of a rather opaque and exclusive circle of the art world.
Currently, Kulov continues to examine such shifts in power dynamics through their writing as Malgorzata Romanska. In the fictional memoir and travelogue mentioned above, the character encounters real-life artists, curators and theorists and discusses actual issues of contemporary art in the context of late-stage capitalism, thus creating a unique blend of fictional narrative, performance and critical theory.
Click here to read a long-format version of Kulov's Artist's Statement and a personal account of their work over the years.
And click here to read an interview with Kulov in LA Weekly, as part of their series "Meet an Artist Monday," published on November 2, 2020.
Kulov identifies as Gender Nonconforming and prefers the pronouns they/them/their.
Kulov is an interdisciplinary artist whose work operates at the intersection of performance, propaganda and activism. As art critic (and former editor of the LA Weekly) Shana Nys Dambrot wrote, “Kulov is something of an agent provocateur. Their work across performance art, public installations, publishing, video, mail art, outdoor billboards and more, repurposes visual strategies of a post–Cold-War youth to insightfully comment on the current state of society and politics — in the art world and beyond. Kulov’s art often sparks controversy, but always aims for progress toward a greater, more inclusive good”
For Kulov, art can be a dramatic medium that can be employed as a lightning rod for social discourse.
A graduate of California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) with a master’s degree in Aesthetics & Politics, Kulov is the recipient of grants and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the Andy Warhol Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation and the Art Matters Foundation. For the past few years, the main focus of their art practice has become the creation of artist’s books. Their limited-edition Kulov 90-00 > A Decade of Transformation is part of the artist’s book collections of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago and the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. An updated version of that book, Kulov 90-15, was released to popular public acclaim, indicating a growing unrest and dissatisfaction with Trump's first administration, halfway through its term (see video below). And their most recent book, entitled The East, The West and the Restless, is written as (and from the perspective of) their performance-art character Malgorzata Romanska — a mega art collector and philanthropist with Eastern European origins and perhaps Kulov’s most notable work.
For years, Kulov’s performances as Malgorzata Romanska were an ubiquitous presence at major international art fairs in both Europe and the U.S., as well as at fundraising auctions for major art institutions — purchasing from galleries and bidding on art as Ms. Romanska for her contemporary art collection. By blurring the lines between performance and reality, and thus infusing the character with a certain financial power, Kulov was able to orchestrate not just a queer (and even transgender) presence, but also a kind of “invasion” of a rather opaque and exclusive circle of the art world.
Currently, Kulov continues to examine such shifts in power dynamics through their writing as Malgorzata Romanska. In the fictional memoir and travelogue mentioned above, the character encounters real-life artists, curators and theorists and discusses actual issues of contemporary art in the context of late-stage capitalism, thus creating a unique blend of fictional narrative, performance and critical theory.
Click here to read a long-format version of Kulov's Artist's Statement and a personal account of their work over the years.
And click here to read an interview with Kulov in LA Weekly, as part of their series "Meet an Artist Monday," published on November 2, 2020.
Kulov identifies as Gender Nonconforming and prefers the pronouns they/them/their.