Sergei Sherstiuk

Sergei Sherstiuk, a defining figure in Russian hyperrealism, made a lasting impact on Soviet art in the 1970s and ’80s. Blurring the lines between photography and painting, he captured a generation navigating political stagnation and cultural upheaval. Set against shifting urban and industrial landscapes, his art reflected and critiqued the final decades of the Soviet Union.

Sherstiuk’s “domestic hyperrealism” diverged from the idealized, state-approved image of Soviet life, offering a raw and honest look at life behind Moscow’s apartment doors. In depicting quiet, often-overlooked everyday moments, his work became a subtle but powerful act of resistance, revealing the hidden realities of a society on the brink of change.

Born in 1951 in Moscow, Russia, Sergei Sherstiuk grew up in a respected Soviet family. As the son of a general, he lived in a highly desirable Tverskaya Street apartment—one of the city’s most prestigious locations. With access to excellent education and the rare freedom to pursue art, he had opportunities that few of his Soviet peers could even dream of in the 1970s, and which allowed him to fully explore his creative potential.

Sherstiuk’s early years took him across borders, starting in Germany, where his father’s military service stationed the family. They later moved to Kyiv, Ukraine; his path shifted when he was accepted into the prestigious Shevchenko State Art School. With his father’s promotion to Major General of Air Defense, they moved to Moscow, where Sherstiuk continued his studies at Moscow State University, earning a degree in theory and history of arts in 1979.

Surrounded by these cities’ dynamic art scenes, Sherstiuk absorbed inspiration from both Kyiv and Moscow. In Kyiv, he experimented with different styles, admired Western masters like Cézanne, and explored esoteric and Oriental studies. But it was in Moscow that his artistic vision took a major turn. At a 1975 exhibition at the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, he encountered American hyperrealism for the first time; the works of Chuck Close, in particular, left a deep impression on him. “Close influenced me for about a year and a half,” he later admitted. “I never imitated him, but I felt like a disciple.” [1] This moment became a turning point, helping to shape his unique artistic style.

In 1980, driven by a search for deeper artistic identity, Sherstiuk cofounded the Группа шести (Gruppa Shesti, Group of Six) with Alexey Tegin (b. 1951), Sergey Basilev (b. 1952), Sergei Geta (b. 1951), Igor Kopystiansky (b. 1954), and Nikolai Filatov (b. 1951)—friends from his days living in Kyiv who had also moved to Moscow. Active from 1980 to 1985, the group became a crucial hub for artistic exploration and collaboration, pushing creative boundaries during a time of cultural stagnation.

The Group of Six thrived on a constant exchange of ideas and a shared fascination with photography, seeing it as a fresh way to capture reality. Sherstiuk’s journey into hyperrealism began in earnest once he finally acquired a camera and could take his own photographs. Yet, while photography played a role in his artistic process, it was never the core of his practice. He firmly rejected the label of photorealist, insisting that he was a hyperrealist who utilized photography. For Sherstiuk, photography was a tool—useful, but never the essence of his work.

Sherstiuk’s hyperrealism was a challenging subject for Soviet censorship. While it shared some similarities with the government-approved style of socialist realism, it directly defied it by blending realistic art with action painting, as seen in Come In (Zakhodite) (1982) and The Television Set (1983, ZAM, D05104). In these works, the illusion of a photographic snapshot is violently disrupted by random splashes and streaks of paint. The authorities were ambivalent about his work—although he had exhibited in official shows, he also wasn’t immune to censorship. At a meeting at the Academy of Art of the Soviet Union in 1983, Minister of Culture Pyotr Demichev urged senior artists to criticize him—a move that could have led to a ban on exhibitions and sales. However, with the advent of perestroika, Demichev lost his position, and Sherstiuk retained his membership in the Artists’ Union.

Sherstiuk’s love life played a key role in shaping his work. Though his paintings often look as if they are capturing a candid moment, the subjects were carefully staged before being photographed and then depicted on canvas. His background as a set designer for theater, along with his marriage to the famous Russian actress Elena Mayorova (1958–1997), strongly influenced his art. By all accounts, Sherstiuk and Mayorova had a happy marriage; they were together for twelve years, always celebrating their anniversary on June 8, the day they first met in 1985. In the painting Artist and Actor (1982, ZAM, 2000.1330), we are given a potential glimpse into their lives together. The scene depicts a couple caught in an intimate moment—the man, dressed only in underwear, and the woman with her back turned to us, looking surprised and slightly annoyed.

Sherstiuk’s paintings from the early 1990s, towards the end of his career, demonstrate a powerful mix of realism, hyperrealism, and surrealism. As the Soviet Union fell, his work became more bold and sometimes violent, capturing the chaos and uncertainty of the time, as in his Russian Roulette series (1991), where different characters, mostly men, sit around a table in an empty room, performing self-destructing actions such as drinking alcohol, sleeping on the table, or pointing a gun to each other’s heads. The series symbolically depicts the dissolution of society, the citizens anticipating its inevitable collapse.         

It wasn’t until the 1990s that Sergei Sherstiuk’s work was finally recognized in Russia. His paintings started appearing in exhibitions, catching the attention of the press and gaining him his first loyal followers. Today, his art is in collections internationally, including Oklahoma City Museum of Art in Oklahoma City, OK, USA; the Zimmerli Art Museum in New Brunswick, NJ, USA; and the M HKA (Museum of Contemporary Art Antwerp) in Belgium.

In addition to his art, Sherstiuk kept a diary where he recorded his thoughts, experiences, and observations—mixing the personal with reflections on the struggles of the Russian people. These writings were later gathered into a memoir, A Stolen Book (Ukradennaia Kniga), published in 2001, which traces Soviet history from the 1970s to the 1990s. As he looks back at important historical events, he also shares his thoughts on life in the Soviet Union, his philosophical reflections, and even ideas for novels and films—painting a rich picture of a man navigating change in the world around him.

Sergei Sherstiuk died on May 23, 1998, at age 47, from cancer, just nine months after his wife had passed away. His funeral was held at the Church of the Great Ascension on Nikitskaya Street, and he was laid to rest at Troyekurovskoye Cemetery in Moscow, beside his beloved wife.

Christina Morandi

Photo portrait: Sergei Sherstiuk, from the series Друзья уходят как-то невзначай [Friends leave somehow by accident], 1993. Photo by tygny-ryadno. Used under Creative Commons License

Notes:

1. Baigell, Renee, and Matthew Baigell, Soviet Dissident Artists: Interviews after Perestroika. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1995: 358.