CV

Van O (Ivan Isaev) was born in Moscow, Russia, graduated the biological faculty of the Moscow State University and the School of dramatic art of An. Vasil'ev. He worked as the actor at the theaters "Dance-model" and "Mystery of costume", as the club designer– created the collections of vanguard fashion "200 volt ago or Some aspects of individual luminosity...", "The Circus", "Viniloplastika". Art-photographer since 1999, the member of Russian Union of Art Photographers since 2009 and of the Creative Union of Russian Artists since 2015. Works are in the collections of Russian museum of St. Petersburg, Erarta Museum of contemporary art and private collections. The winner of the "Heroes" contest -Marler Kunststern,2017; prize winner "From Selfie to Self-Expression" contest, Saatchi gallery,2017; prize winner of Bio-Art Contest, Seoul,2018.

Selected exibitions:

"Matrix-Ost" - Museum Kesselhaus, Berlin, Germany, 2025

"Blind spot" – MORA Museum of International Art, Jersey City, USA, 2025
"404://ART" – RevArt Gallery, Mountain View, USA, 2025
Artiade 2024 – Olympic Building, New York, USA, 2024
"Apocalypse" – Аnnenkirche, St.-Petersburg, Russia, 2023
"Pan-opticum" – Erarta Contemporary Art Museum, St.-Petersburg, Russia, 2022
"Photo Top"– Gallery of Classic Photography, Moscow, Russia, 2021
"Developing a genre/interior" – Museum of Actual Realism, Toliatti, Russia, 2018
"The Essential"– Millepiani Gallery, Rome, Italy, 2018.
6th Bio-Art Contest " Food and Feed ", Seoul, Republic of Korea, 2018.
"Actual Russia/Рlaing Classics" – Museum of Decorative and Applied Art, Russia, 2017
"Heroes"– Marler Kunststern, Marl, Germany, 2017.
"From Selfie to Self-Expression" – Saatchi gallery, London, Great Britain, 2017
"Red gates/Against the stream" – Russian Academy of Arts, Moscow, Russia, 2016
"Photonaturemort" – Photoparade, Uglich, Russia, 2016
"Science and art" – "Na Kashirke" gallery, Moscow, Russia, 2015
"Crex,fex,pex" – Literature State Museum, Moscow, Russia, 2015
"Yellow Submarine" – Central House of Artists, Moscow, Russia, 2015
"Absurd ABC” – "Na Kashirke" gallery, Moscow, Russia, 2015 "The original fake" – Darwin museum, Moscow, Russia, 2012
The II Museum photobienalle – The Russian Museum, St.-Petersburg, Russia, 2012
"New Angelarium" – Moscow Museum of Modern Art, Russia, 2007
"Power" – Moscow Museum of Modern Art, Russia, 2007
"The Money defeat the Evil" – VHUTEMAS gallery, Moscow, Russia, 2004

Statesment

Movement, the key moment of interaction that invites the viewer to extrapolate it into the past and the future – that’s what I always want to show in my works. Even in externally static genres, such as “still life”, I try to reveal internal dynamics and tension, to create the illusion of reportage shooting of a previously modeled situation. At the same time, not the physical or emotional movement, but the moment of transformation, the change of physical appearance, historical and social role, mask or image are especially interesting. During my studying of entomology at the biological faculty of the university I devoted a lot of time to the study of complete and incomplete metamorphosis of insects – and photography, with its charm of documentary, allows me to accumulate my scientific, theatrical and design experience in one work. But unlike temporary arts such as theater and cinema, we can concentrate, condense time, so that the image of maximum intensity appears in perceptual space. The staging of the shooting scene can take time, quite comparable with painting a picture (from a week to a month) – only the dynamics of the process is different: long preparation and instant fixation. For shooting I use wide film – its color- and light rendering seems to me the most congenial to the human eye. Sometimes I apply multiexposure, and also introduce external images into the frame- graphics, scientific and technical schemes. Printed on various media (paper, textile, transparent membrane), they help to achieve the effect of collage, an unexpected transition from volume to plane. Now I am more interested in monochrome images - either shot on black and white film and tinted in different colors when printing, or obtained by shooting pre-painted objects. They focus the viewer's attention on the composition and graphic of the work and keep a powerful emotional background that corresponds its theme.