Jura Shust was born in Belarus, 1983. Being a leader of the conceptual audio-visual group IOD, he studied Media and Visual Communication at EHU (Vilnius, LT). Focused on political engaged art, he was involved in international projects as "Opening the Door?" CAC (Vilnius, LT) and "Europe n” GFZK (Leipzig, DE). In 2013 Shust obtained MA in Fine Arts at KASK (Ghent, BE). A year later he had a solo show at “Ў" gallery (Minsk, BY), and the group show "Coming People" at S.M.A.K. (Ghent,BE). In October 2015 Shust had his solo exhibition at Bruthaus Gallery (Waregem, BE). Currently Jura Shust attends HISK residency program (Ghent, BE).

Focused on investigation of daily life, I explore passion for escapism. Intrigued by the human thirst for spiritualization/mystification, I examine relationships between ritual and discipline. In the key of modern archaeology my artistic investigation deals with the transformation of symbols and signs in their interaction between traditional and contemporary culture, circular and linear concepts of time. Discovering the nature of repetition and the origin of trance I focus on the state of transition. Drawing the line between profane and sacred I am inspired by the idea of an alternative world. Capturing interactions between logic and magic, chaos and structure, I use anthropological material from Eastern and Western European cultures. Based on a political narrative, my critical attention is focused on instruments and techniques of power, its sacralization and idolization. Extracting collective and global structures from individual experiences and local contexts, I am constructing my own poetic form of a new mythology, using different mediums for its articulation.

Jura Shust / 2014