Sergey Kuryokhin
Encyclopedia
Sergey Kuryokhin was a Russia
n film actor, film composer, pianist, music director, experimental artist and writer, based in St. Petersburg, Russia
.
. After playing with professional jazz-bands as well as popular rock musicians, Kuryokhin went through several stages in his career, and eventually became one of the most recognisable names and faces in Russia during the 1980s and 1990s.
By the end of his life, he had emerged as an avant-garde film composer, performance artist and film actor. Outside Russia he is primarily known as a jazz and experimental musician, through his works released since 1981 on UK's Leo Records
, as well as his concert tours with Ensemble Pop-Mekhanika and his happening show also titled Pop Mekhanika. He also made a significant contribution to several albums (in particular: Triangle, Taboo and Radio Africa) of the famous Russian rock band Aquarium
.
His memorable film works include starring in (and composing music for) Two Captains II
(Два капитана II), a comedic pseudo-documentary about World War I; the soundtrack to the neo-noir Russian horror film, The Designer
(), and the lead role of the combative nerd taking on the local mob
, in Lokh pobeditel vody.
Kuryokhin shot to fame after creating one of the first popular media viruses in the Russian media. It was one of his semi-improvised acts of performance art, broadcast live on Russian television in May 1991. As a guest on the popular talk show Fifth Wheel, Kuryokhin provided "proof" that Lenin was a mushroom
. During the 1990s, Kuryokhin was a board member of the St. Petersburg City Council for Culture and Tourism.
, aged 42 in 1996, and was laid to rest in the Komarovo
Cemetery, near the tomb of Anna Akhmatova
.
In 2009 the Sergey Kuryokhin Foundation and Center established an annual award in the field of the modern art.
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n film actor, film composer, pianist, music director, experimental artist and writer, based in St. Petersburg, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
.
Biography
Kuryokhin began his acting career as a piano and keyboard player with a school band in LeningradLeningrad
Leningrad is the former name of Saint Petersburg, Russia.Leningrad may also refer to:- Places :* Leningrad Oblast, a federal subject of Russia, around Saint Petersburg* Leningrad, Tajikistan, capital of Muminobod district in Khatlon Province...
. After playing with professional jazz-bands as well as popular rock musicians, Kuryokhin went through several stages in his career, and eventually became one of the most recognisable names and faces in Russia during the 1980s and 1990s.
By the end of his life, he had emerged as an avant-garde film composer, performance artist and film actor. Outside Russia he is primarily known as a jazz and experimental musician, through his works released since 1981 on UK's Leo Records
Leo Records
Leo Records is an English jazz record label, which releases Russian jazz in addition to material from American and British musicians.Leo Records was founded in 1979 by Leo Feigin , a Russian immigrant to Britain...
, as well as his concert tours with Ensemble Pop-Mekhanika and his happening show also titled Pop Mekhanika. He also made a significant contribution to several albums (in particular: Triangle, Taboo and Radio Africa) of the famous Russian rock band Aquarium
Aquarium (group)
Aquarium or Akvarium is a Russian rock group, formed in Leningrad in 1972 by Boris Grebenshchikov, then a student of Applied Mathematics at Leningrad State University, and Anatoly Gunitsky, then a playwright and absurdist poet.-History:...
.
His memorable film works include starring in (and composing music for) Two Captains II
(Два капитана II), a comedic pseudo-documentary about World War I; the soundtrack to the neo-noir Russian horror film, The Designer
The Designer
The Designer is a British reality television series in which 11 to 16 year olds compete for the chance to win their very own designer clothing company with help from business entrepreneur Laird Turnpenny...
(), and the lead role of the combative nerd taking on the local mob
Mafia
The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...
, in Lokh pobeditel vody.
Kuryokhin shot to fame after creating one of the first popular media viruses in the Russian media. It was one of his semi-improvised acts of performance art, broadcast live on Russian television in May 1991. As a guest on the popular talk show Fifth Wheel, Kuryokhin provided "proof" that Lenin was a mushroom
Lenin was a mushroom
Lenin was a mushroom was a televised hoax by musician Sergey Kuryokhin and reporter Sergey Sholokhov. It was first broadcast on 17 May 1991 on Leningrad Television. The hoax had the form of an interview....
. During the 1990s, Kuryokhin was a board member of the St. Petersburg City Council for Culture and Tourism.
Death
He died of a rare heart condition, cardiac sarcomaSarcoma
A sarcoma is a cancer that arises from transformed cells in one of a number of tissues that develop from embryonic mesoderm. Thus, sarcomas include tumors of bone, cartilage, fat, muscle, vascular, and hematopoietic tissues...
, aged 42 in 1996, and was laid to rest in the Komarovo
Komarovo
Komarovo may refer to:*Komarovo, Saint Petersburg, a municipal settlement under jurisdiction of Saint Petersburg, Russia*Komarovo, Novgorod Oblast, a former urban-type settlement in Novgorod Oblast; since 1998—a village...
Cemetery, near the tomb of Anna Akhmatova
Anna Akhmatova
Anna Andreyevna Gorenko , better known by the pen name Anna Akhmatova , was a Russian and Soviet modernist poet, one of the most acclaimed writers in the Russian canon.Harrington p11...
.
Legacy
The Saint-Petersburg Annual International Music Festival SKIF (Sergey Kuriokhin International Festival) is named after him. Kuryokhin festivals annually take place in Berlin, Amsterdam and New York.In 2009 the Sergey Kuryokhin Foundation and Center established an annual award in the field of the modern art.
Discography
- The Ways of FreedomThe Ways of FreedomThe Ways of Freedom is an early album by the Russian Jazz musician Sergey Kuryokhin.-Track listing:# "Theory and Practice" – 7:00# "The Wall" – 2:23# "The Rules of the Game" – 2:11# "Archipelago" – 8:44# "No Exit" – 1:47# "The Inner Fear" – 1:04...
(Пути Свободы) (1981) - Tragedy in Rock (Трагедия в стиле РОК) (1988)
- Mr. Designer (Господин оформитель) (1989)
- Popular Science (Популярная наука) (1989) with Henry KaiserHenry Kaiser (musician)Henry Kaiser is an American guitarist and composer.Recording and performing prolifically in many styles of music, Kaiser is a fixture on the San Francisco Bay Area music scene. He is considered a member of the "first generation" of American free improvisers.-Biography:His grandfather was the...
- Album for Children (Детский альбом) (1991)
- Opera for the Rich (Опера богатых) (1991)
- Some combinations of fingers and passion (1991)
- Sparrow Oratorium/Four Seasons (Воробьиная оратория) (1994)
- Friends Afar (Sound Wave Records, 1996) with Kenny Millions
- Dear John Cage (Long Arm Records, 1996) with Kenny Millions
Other works
- Music for the stage production of the Chekhov's Chaika (aka The Seagull) (1994)
- Music for the Russian TV series Anna Karenina (2007)
- Buster's BedroomBuster's BedroomBuster's Bedroom is a 1990 independent German comedy film directed by Rebecca Horn. The film follows a young woman with an infatuation for Buster Keaton. The film was shown at the Marché du Film of the Cannes Film Festival in May 1990. Later that year it was shown at the Museum of Contemporary Art,...
(1990)
See also
- Album by Kenny Millions & Otomo Yoshihide Without KuryokhinWithout KuryokhinWithout Kuryokhin is a 1999 album by American jazz multi-instrumentalist Kenny Millions and Japanese experimental musician Otomo Yoshihide. It was dedicated to Russian jazz and experimental musician Sergey Kuryokhin...
dedicated to the memory of Sergey.