Iouri Podladtchikov was born in Moscow on the 13th of September 1988. Due to his father's occupation only 4 years after he was born, the family moved to Sweden then to the Netherlands , and finally settled in Switzerland in 1996. His parents had met while studying mathematics. Iouri decided to pursue a sports career in snowboarding as a teenager. He competed for Russia at the Olympic games in Torino in 2006 before switching to representing Switzerland in 2010 and 2014. After the victory in Sochi in 2014 Iouri signed up at the University of Zurich to study art history and photography. In the following years, many injuries made him consider pursuing his studies further. In 2019 he signed up at the International Center of Photography in New York to study in the Creative Practices program. When he returned from New York he continued to study at the University of Zurich and later moved over to the Zurich University of the Arts to study in their BFA program. In 2023 Iouri continued his studies for an MA at the European Graduate School in Philosophy, Art and Critical Thought.
Iouri Podladtchikov investigates places, objects and social interactions where a certain weight and volatility are inextricably intertwined. The volatility of these situations is reinterpreted and compared through metaphorical representations.
In his photographic work with platinum -, chromogenic- prints, polaroids and direct positive paper he shows a reverence for conceptual practices. Recent works with elements like caesium, titanium and silver refer to investigations about cold war conflicts through their materiality and subject matter.
His works are imbued with melancholy, which originates from a peripatetic youth with the ensuent longing for home. This element is even more clearly readable in his abstract drawings, writings and orchestrated performances. The performances involve hour long repetitions of a band performing the song magnet by noise punk band Bikini Kill live in a gallery space, or a punishment corner piece involving a young boy facing a corner in front of an audience silently enduring mockery - protest against social hierarchies and principles.
Selected Exhibitions
2025
Mischkulturen, Berghof 127, Embrach, Zürich, 19.7.-20.9
SORGE TRAGEN, Hotel Tiger, Genossenschaft Neubühl, Zürich, 28.6
Денъ и Ночъ, Park Inn by Radisson, Rosa Khutor, Sochi, Russia, 29-30.3
2024
5 year anniversary show, Aarlo u Viggo, galerie d`àrt, Buchillon, Switzerland, 28.9-23.11
Schluss, Solo show at LCG ArtLab, 4.7-18.7, Berlin, Germany
BFA Diploma Show at the Zurich University of the Arts, 7.6-22.6
2023
Year End Exhibition, for Hotel Tiger at Visarte, 8.12-17.12
I NEED A HOLIDAY, Hotel Tiger, Zürich, Switzerland, 9.6-16.7
𝘠𝘰𝘶`𝘳𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘙𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, Lighthaus, Zürich Switzerland, 9.3 - 30.4
𝘓𝘖𝘝𝘌 𝘚𝘏𝘖𝘞, Hotel Tiger, Zürich, Switzerland, 14.2 - 2.3.
«Let in the Light», Aarlo u Viggo, galerie d`àrt, Buchillon, Switzerland, 18.2 - 27.05
2022
Space Relations, International Students Office, PNCA, Portland, Oregon, 3rd & 4th of November
𝘙𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘗𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴, Simonett&Baer Bookstore & Gallery, Basel, Switzerland. 13. May - 4. June
𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘎𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘐𝘯, 10-15.5, ICP, New York City, USA, curated by David Campany
1-2 𝘞𝘦𝘳𝘬𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘦, 5.5-6.5.2022, ZHdK, Zürich.
2021
«forever», malmal galerie, Bern, Switzerland.
Das Versprechen, Kunsthalle Emmen, Switzerland.
Brand New Songs, Simonett&Baer Bookstore & Gallery, Basel, Switzerland.
2020
Dinner at 7, Im Grafenhag, Winterthur, Switzerland.
«you don't own me», malmal galerie, Bern, Switzerland.
Suddenly Last Summer, Simonett&Baer Bookstore & Gallery, Basel, Switzerland.
How the Light Gets In, ICP-One-Year-Certificate programs exhibition, https://oyc2020.icp.org.
2019
Art Biesenthal, Biesenthal, Germany.
2018
Nicht eine Liebesgeschichte, Au Premier, Zurich, Switzerland.
2017
Babushka Nadja, Simonett&Baer Bookstore & Gallery, Basel, Switzerland.
True Love Is Hard To Find, Simonett&Baer Bookstore & Gallery, Basel, Switzerland.