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MYKHAILO MARKIN, BORN IN 1980

ABOUT ME

I have always been drawn to art. As a child, I studied at the Vasyakin Art School in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine, where I explored painting, sculpture, and creative expression. But life took me in a different direction—I stepped into the boxing ring, and for over a decade, I was a professional athlete, competing at the national and international level as a member of the Ukrainian National Boxing Team.

Boxing shaped my perception of struggle, endurance, and transformation—principles that would later define my artistic journey. In 2013, after battling a serious illness, I re-evaluated my path and returned to art—not as an escape, but as a new form of resistance and expression.

Now, my work explores power, resilience, war, and human survival. Through sculpture, ceramics, performance, and conceptual installations, I engage with social, political, and existential themes, merging raw physicality with deep reflection.

Today, my works are exhibited in contemporary art biennales, galleries, and public spaces, and collected worldwide. Art, like boxing, is a fight—one that requires precision, control, and the ability to take a hit and keep going.

EDUCATION

  • 1995 – Graduated from Vasyakin Art School, Kryvyi Rih

  • 1997-2006 – National Boxing Team of Ukraine, multiple prizewinner of international tournaments (Class A) and Ukrainian championships

  • 1999 – Earned a degree in Artistic and Decorative Work with honors

EXHIBITIONS

Solo Exhibitions

  • 2014 – "On the Verge of Consciousness", F-ART Gallery, Ukraine, Kryvyi Rih

  • 2016 – "Free Perception", Park F. Mershavtsev (formerly Pravda Newspaper Park), Ukraine, Kryvyi Rih

  • 2018 – "SOS Package", solo exhibition of social posters, Ukraine, Kryvyi Rih

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Group Exhibitions

  • 2015 – "Feldman ART Park", Ukraine, Kharkiv

  • 2015 – "Spalv" Festival of Contemporary Art, supported by the German Consulate, Ukraine, Kryvyi Rih

  • 2015 – "Don’t Forget About the Universe", Dnipro Planetarium, Ukraine, Dnipro

  • 2017 – 5th Odesa Biennale of Contemporary Art, "Zone of Turbulence", Ukraine, Odesa

  • 2017 – Blockchain ART Hackathon (Paris, Brussels, Luxembourg, Amsterdam, Berlin, Prague)

  • 2020 – "ANTICIPATED+IMMUNITY", Korsak Museum of Contemporary Ukrainian Art, Ukraine, Lutsk

  • 2021 – "Swamp", Detector Gallery, Ivano-Frankivsk

  • 2021 – "Your Names, Ukraine", Korsak Museum of Contemporary Art, Ukraine, Lutsk

  • 2022-2023 – "One Day After", Imagine Point, Ukraine, Kyiv

  • 2023 – "Cosmogony of Meanings", Korsak Museum of Contemporary Art, Ukraine, Lutsk

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Public & Performance Art Projects

  • 2015-2019 – "ATBshnyky", unauthorized landfill art intervention, Ukraine, Kryvyi Rih

  • 2017-2019 – "Urn Art Gallery", social intervention in an abandoned park, Ukraine, Kryvyi Rih (led to park renovation)

  • 2018 – Founder & curator of "Informal Group High Tech" (#ну_хайтак), organizing performances "Blood of the Earth", "Dust PRE", and "Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité", Ukraine, Kryvyi Rih

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Awards & Nominations

  • 2019 – "Public ART" Nominee, ART OF SECURITY competition, Ukraine, Kharkiv

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