Ales Pushkin
1965–2023 · Belarusian non-conformist painter, stage designer and performer
Ales Pushkin (1965-2023) was a Belarusian non-conformist painter who also worked as a stage designer, performer and art curator. Combining painting with public actions, he became one of the most uncomfortable voices in his country's art scene.
He trained at the Akhremchik fine arts boarding school and at the Belarusian State Theatre and Art Institute. His 1990 diploma mural, a 215-square-metre work still on view at the school, opened the doors of the Soviet Union of Artists.
From 1989 he developed what he called Social Art, using posters and performances that led to arrests and sentences. His most famous action, Pus for a President (1999), saw him overturn a cart of manure in front of Lukashenko's administration. He also restored church murals, including a politically charged fresco in Bobr.
Recognised as a political prisoner by human rights groups, he was sentenced in 2022 to five years for inciting hatred. He died in 2023 in hospital, after being transferred there from prison. His work remains a reference for politically engaged art in Belarus.