"Who are You, Mr. Lenin?" Painting

Oleksandr Balbyshev is a Ukrainian contemporary artist, born in 1985. He graduated from the Prydniprovska State Academy of Civil Engineering and Architecture in 2012 and initially worked in architecture and design. Since 2016, he has been working as a full-time independent artist. He currently lives and works in Germany.

Balbyshev’s artistic practice focuses primarily on figurative painting, exploring the male body, sexuality, sensuality, identity and vulnerability. Rather than treating the human figure purely as a realistic representation, he uses color, gesture and expressive distortion to create images that combine physical presence with emotional and symbolic meaning.

Another important part of his practice is the transformation of found Soviet-era objects and portraits, particularly images of Lenin. By repainting, altering and combining these objects with new visual elements, Balbyshev removes them from their original ideological context and gives them new, often ironic and personal meanings.

His works are held in private collections internationally, including in the USA, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Portugal, Greece, Austria, Sweden, Finland, the Czech Republic, Croatia, South Africa, Thailand, Singapore, Australia, Mexico and Japan.