About Yury Khilko

1960             born in Baranovichy, Brest Region

1976 - 1980  studied at Minsk State Art College named after A. Glebov

1985 - 1991  studied at Belarusian State Theatre and Art Institute under Y. Vykhodcev, A. Salkov, A. Malishevsky, V. Sharangovich, and V. Savich

1990             laureate of the Prize of the Slavic Writing International Fund named after Saints Cyril and Methodius

1993             member of the Belarusian Union of Artists

Since 1993   Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Graphic Arts at the Belarusian State Academy of Arts

1995             Diploma from the Republican "The Best Book of the Year" competition

1998             Diploma from the Belarusian Union of Artists “For Active Creative Work”

1999             Diploma from the Republican “Artist and Book” competition

2002             Medal for Merit in Fine Arts

2003             Diploma from the Republican “Book Art 2003” competition

2010             Certificate of Honor from the Belarusian State Academy of Arts

2010             Certificate of Honor from the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Belarus

Yury Khilko is a contemporary Belarusian artist, associate professor, and head of the Department of Graphic Arts at the Belarusian State Academy of Arts. He works in book graphics and easel painting, and he depicts images from nature in both the realist and expressionist-abstract styles. The creative path of Yury Khilko is a continuous search. He experiments and seeks to unify the traditions of painting and graphic arts. The artist chooses his palette in accordance with these goals. His fluid color transitions create a feeling of light haze, subordinating all of the depicted objects to a certain rhythm. He applies the lines and composition structure of drawing to painting, where they serve to create a certain naturalness and harmony. These qualities can be seen in his pure landscapes, which are permeated by a subtle philosophical and lyrical mood. Yury Khilko took up abstract painting in an effort to capture and convey his feelings and thoughts. These paintings feature expressive multilayer structures, though they are used concisely and are aligned to the composition. Thanks to the artist's special perception of light, he is able to combine the individual details of his works into expressive cloud-like figures, which resemble raw airborne elements. Though he creates non-objective art, the artist’s works nevertheless still tell a story, which is facilitated by Yury Khilko's use of symbols, signs, and myths.

Permanent collections:

National Art Museum of the Republic of Belarus

National Gallery of Modern Art, India

Kunsthaus Tacheles, Germany

Museum of Russian Art, United States

Museum of Graphic Art, Sweden

National Center for Contemporary Arts, Belarus

Kaliningrad State Art Gallery, Russia

Collection of TBEA, China

Bielsk-Podlaski Town Hall, Poland

Collection of Priorbank, Belarus

Omsk State Museum of Fine Arts n.a. Mikhail Vrubel, Russia

Polotsk National Historical and Cultural Museum-Reserve, Belarus

Museum of nature in the Belovezhskaya Pushcha National Park, Belarus

Brest Regional Museum of Local Lore, Belarus

Baranovichi Museum of Local Lore, Belarus

Literary Museum n.a. Maxim Bogdanovich, Belarus

Mogilev Regional Arts Museum n.a. P. V. Maslennikov, Belarus