ARTIST
OLEG AGAFONOV
«Now, in the world of an endless flow of information about other people's windows, we cannot live in a vacuum of our own layer only. Other worlds literally slip into our own» — O. A.
The artist depicts modern civilization through the eyes of a primitive person. With the help of synthetic, twisted to the maximum, pure colors and bright palettes, the world from computer screens moves into cave painting, where characters, the nature of lines and shapes demonstrate fear and delight from the approaching future and the present, fascinating with its plots. In the perspectives and silhouettes of primitive art, one can trace the role of the artist as a relay between mysticism and science fiction.
Oleg Agafonov was born in the mining settlement of Tsentralny in Tula State. He studied in the workshop of Regina Petrovna Solovyova, where he also mastered academic drawing and attended workshops on experimental techniques of graphics, painting and ceramics. In 2010, he graduated from Tula State University with a degree in Graphic Design, which influenced his project-based approach to series. The transition from academic school to abstract art was facilitated by participation in the group exhibition «Donkey ArtPrize» (Italy) and the online project «Project30» (USA). The artist uses mixed techniques depending on the project and idea, with an emphasis on dry, oil pastel and acrylic. The artist's works are regularly exhibited, participate in competitions and are held in private collections in Russia and Europe. Oleg lives and works in Tula. For the last year, he has been curating a catalog of Tula artists and a pop-up gallery focusing on local authors. Recent significant works include the series «Falling Skies» and «The Portals».
Oleg Agafonov was born in the mining settlement of Tsentralny in Tula State. He studied in the workshop of Regina Petrovna Solovyova, where he also mastered academic drawing and attended workshops on experimental techniques of graphics, painting and ceramics. In 2010, he graduated from Tula State University with a degree in Graphic Design, which influenced his project-based approach to series. The transition from academic school to abstract art was facilitated by participation in the group exhibition «Donkey ArtPrize» (Italy) and the online project «Project30» (USA). The artist uses mixed techniques depending on the project and idea, with an emphasis on dry, oil pastel and acrylic. The artist's works are regularly exhibited, participate in competitions and are held in private collections in Russia and Europe. Oleg lives and works in Tula. For the last year, he has been curating a catalog of Tula artists and a pop-up gallery focusing on local authors. Recent significant works include the series «Falling Skies» and «The Portals».
- Exhibition2010 - Personal exhibition «Museum of the Ethnography», Aleksin, Russia
2012 - Group exhibition «The 1st Kaliningrad Biennale of graphic art», Kaliningrad, Russia
2012 - Group exhibition by the Union of Artists, Tula, Russia
2013 - Group exhibition «Museum Night», TIAM, Tula, Russia
2014 - «Adygea-Prague», open studio, Moscow, Russia
2015 - Group exhibition «Donkey Art Prize», Milan, Italy
2017 - «Theory of Relationships», open studio, Tula, Russia
2018 - Personal exhibition, Theater «BARABAN», «Stardust of Stephen Hawking», Tula, Russia
2018 - «Geometry of Cyprus», open studio, Tula, Russia
2018 - «Prague 8», design factory «Flacon», Moscow, Russia
2019 - Contributor of 178th Auction «Art Litfund», Moscow, Russia
2019 - Mural «Metaphysics and Metamorphosis», ISKRA - New Urban Space, Tula, Russia
2020 - «Data in art 2», Bogorodskoe Gallery, Moscow City Galleries Network, Moscow
2020 - Group exhibition «On the Other Side of Tula», curated by Alexandra Kremenets, Machine Tool Museum, Tula, Russia
2021/2022 - Personal exhibition «Not a Wine Book», exhibition space «wellwellwell», Tula, Russia
2022 - Personal exhibition «Falling Skies», singz-zings gallery in Tula, Russia
2022–2023 — Exhibition project «Unreal Tula: The Beginning», «Oktava» art cluster, Tula, Russia
2023 - Group exhibition «Emptiness», singz-zings gallery in Tula, Russia
2024 - Group exhibition «(Without) a Little House», curated by Vladislav Titaev, Tula, Russia
2025 - Performative piece “Terpsichore of Sisyphus,” dancer: Samir Makeev, noise music: Es Denkt (Maxim Fyodorov), Oleg Agafonov, “Soyuz” Cultural Center, Tula, Russia
2025 - “Chupayevskie Smotriny”, group exhibition and festival, project of the “Open Workshops” art residency, Almetyevsk, Republic of Tatarstan, Russia
2025 “Tashtashlar”, art Residency “Open Workshops”, Almetyevsk, Republic of Tatarstan, Russia
– “The First Shift”: a collaborative performance with Katya Buzova, “Open Studios,” Almetyevsk
– “Second Shift”: group exhibition following the residency program - Education2004–05 - Solovyova's studio of painting, graphics and experimental ceramic art, Suvorov, Russia
2004–10 - Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.), Tula State University, Tula, Russia
2024 - «Tom Sawyer Fest» restoration school - Contests2012 - Finalist of «project30», USA
2015 - Finalist of the international competition «Donkey Art Prize», Milan, Italy
2021 - 1st place in the interregional competition program «Art Federation», Russia - PublicationsTheater «BARABAN», social media publication, 2018
Magazine 43 Issue 3: Spring, website publication, 2018
Tula News LLC (Certificate of registration of mass media EL No. FS 77 - 72275 dated 24.01.2018),
article «Panoramic abstraction appeared in the center of Tula», 2019
Website publication «JaamZIN Creative», November - December 2019
Featured Member, ello.co, 2020
«Data in art #2», print catalog, 2020
«Tula City Newspaper» (Certificate of registration of PI No. TU 71-00490 dated January 11, 2018), artist interview «Art as awareness of the world», 2020
Website publication «Art Federation», www.fund-stalnaya.com, 2021
«Stanok» is a non-commercial publication about Russia and Tula: https://stanok.space/tula/2024/04/02/nohome
https://wossoedinenie.site/exhibitions/bezdomika/
2025 “Tashtashlar”, Luch-Almetyevsk TV, news broadcast dated 08.10.2025
2025 Publications in the newspaper “Neftyanie Vesti” (Media License № TU16‑01566 dated 05.11.2024): “The Stone Heart of the City”, Rozaliya Ermolayeva, №38 (3090), p. 11
“Chupayevskie Smotriny: A Celebration of Local History”, Liliya Shakirova, №39 (3091), p. 16
“In the History of Stone — The History of Almetyevsk”, Adelya Yausheva, №40 (3092), p. 16
2025 «Performance “Tashtashlar” and research exhibition», publication on the ZAMAN Museum website, Ufa, Russia – zaman.museum/tashtashlar