Artem Proot

Born in 1987 in Zaporizhzhia. Lives and works in Kyiv. Currently serving in the Azov brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine.

Artem Proot is a Ukrainian artist whose practice explores the relationships between image, space, memory and perception.

His artistic language took shape gradually, passing through several distinct stages. His early works were closely tied to street culture, graphics, characters and figurative imagery. In this period Proot worked with more narrative and expressive compositions, developing a visual language that grew out of his teenage passion for street art and skateboarding.

From around 2017 the artist’s focus shifts. Characters gradually disappear, and the centre is taken by empty landscapes, interiors, architectural fragments, sports grounds, skate spots and other spaces. Human presence in these works is often felt indirectly — through the setting, traces of activity, scale and atmosphere.

Since 2021 Proot’s practice has become increasingly minimal and fragmentary. Familiar objects and settings are reduced to individual details, planes, lines and colour relationships. The tennis court series is a characteristic example of this period: the sports ground ceases to be merely a subject and becomes a structure for exploring rhythm, composition, texture and colour.

In his newer works Proot moves even further from the direct depiction of reality. Forms are simplified, cropped, layered, erased or partly dissolved, leaving the image in an intermediate state between recognisability and abstraction.

Rather than building a clear narrative, the artist creates open visual situations in which atmosphere, the inner rhythm of the work and the act of perception itself become central. His works leave room for uncertainty, association and personal interpretation.

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