Olga Knaus

Две выхухоли (Two Fools) 2024. Ink and watercolor on paper, 41 x 59 cm

Olga Knaus was Lena Ulanova at the time I was first acquainted with her work. She was one of the artists at Alexey Stepanov’s Moscow studio who I marveled at back in 2016. Alexey would post photos and video of their figure drawing and painting sessions, which always made me feel alone and guilty to be an artist in the United States. They had youth, camaraderie, inspiration, nothing to lose, and Stuckism! I had a poorly lit basement studio and zero connection with other artists. At the end of each session, the painters would set their pieces around the studio for the model to choose one to take home as payment. Olga’s work was easy to identify. She always made the model appear more interesting than what she saw. Something extra from out of place—perhaps mice falling from the ceiling, or 29 lounging alligators added to an Izod shirt. Olga was/is playful with paint. She is highly original, prolific, a woman, and a Stuckist. That’s four strikes against financial success in a topsy-turvy art world. Still, her steadfastness is remarkable, and I think I know what fuels a big part of her creativity.

I have long thought that if one wants to be an artist, then first get a small child. Like Olga, I was/am a dedicated parent. She is blessed with a young daughter, which I know from experience, keeps her mind wide awake and her hope eager to plan another day. Today, my parental responsibilities are few and far between. However, Olga is still in the thick of it, which means constant inspiration and games of the imagination. And they are expressed fluidly in her painting. I envy her these beautiful days with her daughter. I can see she’s not wasting a second of time passing by. If the U.S. government wasn’t such a mafia crime boss, I’d be visiting St. Petersburg every October to met up with her and fellow painter Andrew Makarov.

The Russian Stuckists turned me on to a whole new, practical perspective on art and art practice. Their studio gatherings convinced me that there was more to seek in an art career than exhaustive repeats of the same tired old self. I began to host exhibitions featuring the work of my new friends. In 2018 I sponsored a Lena Ulanova (Olga Knaus) solo exhibition at my house, which is Fuel Gallery. I went all out with promotion, good food and even hired a three-piece jazz band to liven up the living room. Olga had great sales, and I didn’t take a penny. It was (and is) a labor of love celebrating artists I like. Please follow Olga on Instagram (olga_knausss) if you’re interested in what’s new in painting. She is prolific and original, prolifically original, an artist of life, fresh, funny, in the 98th percentile of art genius, and marvelously new.

Olga is the real deal Stuckist. She paints with ideas everyday.

Edvard Munch’s Cats 2024. Acrylic on chipboard, 40 x 30 cm

I have only a few heroes and heroines of modern painting. Olga is one.

Below is a video of her exhibition “Entrainment” split before guest arrival and at the tail end of opening night. Place was packed mid-show. This is what Stuckism does. It leaves the paid-for gallery behind. It takes out the middleman, and frees the artist from the feelings of beggardom.