About Sergei Balenok

1954               born in Boyarka, Kyiv Region

1976 - 1980    studied at Ukrainian Polygraphic Institute under Y. Charyshnikov

1984 - 1987    studied at the workshops of the Fine Arts Academy of the USSR in Minsk

1988               member of the Belarusian Union of Artists

Since 2011     Senior Research Fellow at the National Center for Contemporary Arts

Sergei Balenok is a contemporary Belarusian artist who works in book art and easel graphics. He mainly uses the etching technique. Every detail in each picture by Sergei Balenok is deliberate, and each image concentrates on conveying the artist's vast range of personal experiences. The artist's main motifs are repeated from work to work, and they flow from one sheet of paper to another, enhancing the effect of the everyday surreal. The works of Sergei Balenok feature ghostly depopulated cities, dramatic moments depicting mysterious figures in flight, and the forms of shadows without the objects that cast them. No two works are the same. Over time the artist has created increasingly fanciful worlds filled with allusions to the literary works of German Romanticism and films of German Expressionism. Nervous and sharp hatching that is backlit by the blinding light of night lamps forms wide open planes that cut through the depth of space. The shadow is the protagonist of the artist's etchings. Regardless of whether the artist's composition is dynamic or static, the viewer invariably is able to sense the artist's strong expressive content, which is amplified by the sharply outlined contours that emphasize important points of significance. In the process of transforming impressions and sensations into art, Sergei Balenok gives us an unvarnished look at reality, exposing the underlying nerves and sinews of the surrounding world. Such an interpretation of reality has lifted the artist into the company of other atypical and provocative artists. Such a unique perspective when combined with technical mastery allows the Sergei Balenok to be ranked with the best graphic artists in Belarus.

Permanent collections:

National Art Museum of the Republic of Belarus

National Center for Contemporary Arts, Belarus

Polotsk National Historical and Cultural Museum-Reserve, Belarus

Rimini City Museum, Italy

Van Abbemuseum, Netherlands

Villa Flora, Switzerland