Mykola Ridnyi b. 1985

Mykola Ridnyi (b. 1985 in Kharkiv) works across various media, ranging from early collective actions in public spaces to the creation of site-specific installations. Photography and moving images are currently the primary focus of his practice. In recent films and images, he experiments with nonlinear montage and collages combining documentary and fiction elements. His method of reflecting on social and political reality draws on the contrast between the fragility and resilience of individual stories and collective histories.

Since 2005, he has been a founding member of the SOSka group, an art collective based in Kharkiv. In the same year, he co-founded the SOSka gallery-lab, an artist-run space in Kharkiv. Under Ridnyi's leadership, the gallery-lab played a pivotal role in developing the artistic scene in the region before its closure in 2012. Starting with his curatorial project "Armed and Dangerous" (2017-2021), Ridnyi began developing a platform for collaboration between Ukrainian moving image artists and filmmakers. In 2022, he curated several screening programs of Ukrainian film and video art at MAXXI Rome, Museum Folkwang Essen, and the National Gallery in Sofia.

Mykola Ridnyi has been featured in group and solo exhibitions at venues such as Secession in Vienna (AT), Albertinum in Dresden (DE), Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich (DE), and the Museum of Contemporary Art Arlington (VA, US), among others. Ridnyi was also part of the group exhibitions "All the World's Futures" at the 56th Venice Biennale for Contemporary Art and "Hope!" at the Pavilion of Ukraine during the 56th International Art Exhibition – la Biennale di Venezia in Venice, Italy. Mykola Ridnyi’s works are included in public collections, such as the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich, Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, Ludwig Museum Budapest, Warsaw Museum of Modern Art, Museum of Art in Lodz, and Arsenal City Gallery in Bialystok.