Denis Ouch
Ouch’s first artistic efforts took place in the 90’s in St. Petersburg Russia. A decade when the country was passing through the conversation from Communist USSR, the world’s largest state-controlled economy into the free market. Simultaneously, the unregulated democratization of social, political, and financial culture took place. This drastic transformation has profoundly affected Ouch’s conceptualization of the world.
Ouch was one of the first trailblazers of the Street Art scene in St. Petersburg. His initial output was mainly emotional slogans graffitied on walls of public buildings. Since then, written statements occur in his work - arresting to his admiration of the power of language, Russian, Spanish, English, French or Japanese. At that time, Ouch began his search for universal vocabulary, allowing him to portray human values.
In 2001 Ouch relocated to New York City. While working towards his degree in Economics, he decided to pursue a full-time artistic career. Starting as a self-taught solitary urban trespasser tagging his name on the walls of New York - Ouch soon gained attention for his over posing large scale murals. In the early 2010’s Ouch expanded his endeavor to clothing, paper, and canvas. Ouch is charmed by democratic qualities of the pop art scene and his ability to deliver a powerful message through symbols of mass culture. The artist interprets vocabulary and iconic subjects to reflect on the nature of human progress and its’ underlying value.