SUPERM
Encyclopedia
SUPERM is an international multimedia art team founded by Russian author and artist Slava Mogutin
(born 1974) and American artist and musician Brian Kenny (b. 1982). Having joined their forces in 2004, both artists come from completely different backgrounds: Siberian-born Mogutin was exiled from Russia at the age of 21 for his queer writings and activism; Kenny was born on the American military base in Heidelberg, Germany, and grew up traveling throughout the US with his all-American, Catholic, military family. They are responsible for site-specific, multimedia gallery and museum shows in New York
, Los Angeles
, London
, Berlin
, Stockholm
, Oslo
, Bergen
, Moscow
, and León (Spain).
In their work, they use all available media and source materials, ranging from reclaimed furniture and street art to personal fetish gear, hair and body fluids.
SUPERM installations combine photography
, video
, sound
, text, drawing
, painting
, sculpture
, collage
, and performance
. Using themselves and their friends as models, actors and collaborators, SUPERM creates a multidisciplinary body of site-specific work that reaches audiences far beyond the usual art crowd. Transgressive, political and personal, SUPERM work is a response to a world of shameless war propaganda, media brainwashing, corporate censorship
, state-induced paranoia, and shrinking personal freedoms; a world where natives of countries outside the European Union and the USA are treated as second-class citizen
s and nonconformists artists as criminals.
SUPERM videos have recently been shown at the GLBT Film Festival, The International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, MIX NYC, Revolution & Sexual Revolution Film Festival in Tokyo, Paris Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, PornfilmfestivalBerlin (2nd Prize in Short Film Competition), as well as various art and club venues across Europe and the US.
The ever expanding list of SUPERM collaborators include Gio Black Peter, Bruce LaBruce
, Christophe Chemin, Marcelo Krasilcic, Dominic Johnson
, Desi Santiago, Tom Dura, Billy Miller
, Jason Farrer, Christophe Hamaide-Pierson, Dmitryi Rozin, Joakim Andreasson, Josh Lee, and Marko Brozic.
Slava Mogutin
Slava Mogutin is a New York-based Russian artist and author, who works across different media, including photography, video, text, installation, sculpture and painting.-Life and work:...
(born 1974) and American artist and musician Brian Kenny (b. 1982). Having joined their forces in 2004, both artists come from completely different backgrounds: Siberian-born Mogutin was exiled from Russia at the age of 21 for his queer writings and activism; Kenny was born on the American military base in Heidelberg, Germany, and grew up traveling throughout the US with his all-American, Catholic, military family. They are responsible for site-specific, multimedia gallery and museum shows in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
, Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
, Bergen
Bergen
Bergen is the second largest city in Norway with a population of as of , . Bergen is the administrative centre of Hordaland county. Greater Bergen or Bergen Metropolitan Area as defined by Statistics Norway, has a population of as of , ....
, Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, and León (Spain).
In their work, they use all available media and source materials, ranging from reclaimed furniture and street art to personal fetish gear, hair and body fluids.
SUPERM installations combine photography
Photography
Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
, video
Video
Video is the technology of electronically capturing, recording, processing, storing, transmitting, and reconstructing a sequence of still images representing scenes in motion.- History :...
, sound
Sound
Sound is a mechanical wave that is an oscillation of pressure transmitted through a solid, liquid, or gas, composed of frequencies within the range of hearing and of a level sufficiently strong to be heard, or the sensation stimulated in organs of hearing by such vibrations.-Propagation of...
, text, drawing
Drawing
Drawing is a form of visual art that makes use of any number of drawing instruments to mark a two-dimensional medium. Common instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, inked brushes, wax color pencils, crayons, charcoal, chalk, pastels, markers, styluses, and various metals .An artist who...
, painting
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
, sculpture
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...
, collage
Collage
A collage is a work of formal art, primarily in the visual arts, made from an assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole....
, and performance
Performance
A performance, in performing arts, generally comprises an event in which a performer or group of performers behave in a particular way for another group of people, the audience. Choral music and ballet are examples. Usually the performers participate in rehearsals beforehand. Afterwards audience...
. Using themselves and their friends as models, actors and collaborators, SUPERM creates a multidisciplinary body of site-specific work that reaches audiences far beyond the usual art crowd. Transgressive, political and personal, SUPERM work is a response to a world of shameless war propaganda, media brainwashing, corporate censorship
Corporate censorship
Corporate censorship is censorship by corporations, the sanctioning of speech by spokespersons, employees, and business associates by threat of monetary loss, loss of employment, or loss of access to the marketplace.- TV Guide debate :...
, state-induced paranoia, and shrinking personal freedoms; a world where natives of countries outside the European Union and the USA are treated as second-class citizen
Second-class citizen
Second-class citizen is an informal term used to describe a person who is systematically discriminated against within a state or other political jurisdiction, despite their nominal status as a citizen or legal resident there...
s and nonconformists artists as criminals.
SUPERM videos have recently been shown at the GLBT Film Festival, The International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, MIX NYC, Revolution & Sexual Revolution Film Festival in Tokyo, Paris Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, PornfilmfestivalBerlin (2nd Prize in Short Film Competition), as well as various art and club venues across Europe and the US.
The ever expanding list of SUPERM collaborators include Gio Black Peter, Bruce LaBruce
Bruce LaBruce
Bruce LaBruce is a Canadian writer, filmmaker, photographer and underground gay porn director based in Toronto, Ontario.-Biography:...
, Christophe Chemin, Marcelo Krasilcic, Dominic Johnson
Dominic Johnson
Dominic Laurence Johnson is a retired St Lucian athlete competing in the pole vault. He is a former decathlete.His personal best result is 5.70 metres, achieved in 2000. This is the current St Lucian record. He also holds the St Lucian records in decathlon, 110 metres hurdles and 4 x 100 metres...
, Desi Santiago, Tom Dura, Billy Miller
Billy Miller
Billy RoShawn Miller is a retired American football tight end won a Super Bowl with the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League. He was originally drafted by the Denver Broncos in the seventh round of the 1999 NFL Draft...
, Jason Farrer, Christophe Hamaide-Pierson, Dmitryi Rozin, Joakim Andreasson, Josh Lee, and Marko Brozic.
SUPERM Filmography
- COP SHOT (2007)
- SUPERM Highway (“On a Highway I Drive Very Fast”) (2006)
- Curses, Hexes & Boots (2006)
- Pay My Billz Jockstrap Dawgz (2006)
- Teen Werewolf Workout! (2006)
- Wake Up Paperboy! (2006)
- Ninja Independence Day (1999)