Artist Georgy (Gosha) Ostretsov (born in 1967th) is one of the brightest representatives of Moscow avant-garde artistic life of the eighties. He practically founded the genre of man-style in Russia, and announced a fashion and style as the new language of contemporary art. Then a whole generation of artists has been developing this trend: Andrey Bartenev, Alexander Petlura and others. I like to discover the avant-garde art flows of eighties. These pre-psychedelic experiments were very important for Moscow art life. 
In the late eighties Ostretsov issued a series of fashion collections, appealing to a military avant-garde fashion of 1920s, to the traditions of Russian wooden toys and others. A lot of creative people takes part in this performances as models: Sergey Anufriev, Gor Chakhal. But Gosha considered the costume not as a consumer, but as an artist. He’s interested in the human body as a living sculpture in the space. Classic sculpture is a dead nature, and to revive it one needs to transform a dressed human body into a living sculpture. Studying fashion Gosha Ostretsov went to Paris where he was working as a stylist in the House of Jean Charles Castelbajac, doing TV shows for Jean Paul Gaultier. But even in the elite Parisian fashion lab Ostretsov felt himself foremost as an artist. Upon his return to Moscow after five years of wandering Georgy immersed himself into the «rubber time» and created a «Collection #11». It was a club style, organically fitted to the Moscow club life of nineties: embossed monster rubber masks, suits and dresses-sculptures created with unique technology. Furthermore fashionable Moscow public remembers Gosha on his photographs for the cult urban OM Magazine and for local Vogue. «Collection #11» 
One of the brightest Ostretsov’s projects of recent years called «New Government». To raise the question of whether power is personal or impersonal Georgy put rubber masks on officials. I think it’s a kind of utopian political project that correlates with the project of new Russian capital by Pavel Pepperstein. The most important issue is to free people from the encroachment on his personality. One’s position shouldn’t affect one’s personality. Because one can change and the mask remains.
Georgy Ostretsov, artist 
Mask of New Government In painting Ostretsov remains committed to the new wave style, rather rigid and straight. But last year (to the birth of his son) he realized quite unusual project «Gosha for children» (Triumph Gallery, 2009). However Georgy admitted that he’s not going to show this paintings any more. «War» project 
«Traumatism» series 
«Anticapitalist» series 
For the Venice Biennale 2009 Ostretsov made an impressive large-scale self-portrait. Portrait of the artist in the interiors of dilapidated workshop. I remembered one of my old impressions of the workshop and say: «Let it be this installation: the ruins, floors, and in the depths of the ruins and the artist sits and works». She [the curator of Russian Pavilion Olga Sviblova — OB] revived and said: «Yes, the art wins, very good». We decided to do this work.
Georgy Ostretsov, artist 
Official bio of Georgy Ostretsov | 
