Vasily Klyukin

Vasily was born into a family of teachers, as his father Vasily Klyukin Senior was a writer, historian, and doctor of historical sciences, while his mother Elena Klyukin is an editor and schoolteacher. He grew up with art at home and with his parents taking him to museums. Growing up, he greatly admired artist Auguste Rodin, whose works he saw in the Pushkin Museum in Moscow. Klyukin never had time for his own art, as he searched for meaningful employment in his early 20s, alongside his younger brother. He received a degree in economics and became an Israeli citizen in 2004. From 2009 to 2011, he was involved in real estate development, especially reconstructing buildings and changing the purpose of properties. In 2011, he completely abandoned entrepreneurial activity, got rid of his assets and decided to devote his life to art.

In 2011, Klyukin moved to Monaco and devoted his life to art and architecture. Influenced by architects with global firms like Thornton Tomasetti, Klyukin began to focus on highly imaginative digital architectural design. In 2014, he created a digital design project called “Designing Legends,” a book of imaginary architecture that was published by Skira Editore in Milan. The designs from the book, where he riffed on using world-renowned artists like Piet Mondrian for the basis of skyscrapers, went viral on art publications like ArchDaily and Designboom.

Klyukin has long been involved in philanthropy, supporting a large number of organizations, and his sculptures are sold at charity auctions, such as UNICEF, WWF, Naked Heart, amfAR, Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, Prince Albert II Foundation, Andrea Bocelli Foundation.

• Illustration — Sculpture park by Vasily Klyukin in Lucerne, Switzerland • "In Dante Veritas", The State Russian Museum, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 2018 • "The pulsating heart (Heart of hope)", Burning Man, USA, 2018 • "La Collection Air", Lucerne, Switzerland, 2018 • "Karl Marx Forever", The State Russian Museum, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 2019 • "Anna Akhmatova. Poetry and Life", Branch of The State Russian Museum, Malaga, Spain, 2019 • "Authentic Human Bodies. Leonardo da Vinci", Palazzo Zaguri, Venice, Italy, 2019 • "In Dante Veritas", Venice Biennale, Italy, 2019 • "Why People Can’t Fly", Polytechnic Museum, Moscow, Russia, 2019 • "Why People Can’t Fly", Burning Man, USA, 2019 • "Why People Can’t Fly", Venice Biennale, Italy, 2019 • "Art Panorama Inferno", Lucerne, Switzerland, 2020 • "The Mind Port", Simon Lee Gallery, London, 2020 • "Civilization. The Island of the Day Before", Kunstforum, Vienna, 2021 • "In Dante Veritas: 4 Sins", Bad Breisig, Germany, 2021 • "Big Bang" and "Gluttony", Osthaus Museum Hagen, Germany, 2021 • "413", Moscow, Vienna, Malaga, 2021 • "Dante's Mask", Lucerne and Zug, Switzerland, 2021 • “Mind Space”, Osthaus Museum Hagen, Germany, 2022-2023 • “INNENLEBEN”, Osthaus Museum Hagen, Germany, 2023 • “Selected ‘Crypto’ sculptures”, Serge Sorokko Gallery, San Francisco, USA, 2023 • "DEMETRICISM", Certosa di San Giacomo, Capri, Italy, 2025

• Illustration — "In Dante Veritas. 4 sins" by Vasily Klyukin in Bad Breisig, Germany • Crime and Punishment, Dostoevsky Omsk State University, Omsk, Russia, from 2017 • Angel of Lucerne, Lucerne, Switzerland, from 2018 • Heart Of Hope, Lucerne, Switzerland, from 2018 • Exdominator, Saint-Riquier-es-Plains, Monaco, from 2019 • Newborn Mind, Moscow, Russia, from 2020 • In Dante Veritas: 4 sins, Bad Breisig, Germany, from 2021 • Gluttony, Seewerk Museum, Moers, Germany, from 2023 • Why people can’t fly, Gernot Huber sculpture park, Tenerife, Spain, from 2024 • Illustration — “Why people can’t fly” by Vasily Klyukin in Gernot Huber sculpture park, Tenerife, Spain • Temptation, Gernot Huber sculpture park, Hamburg, Germany, from 2025 • Why people can’t fly, Cannes, France, from 2025 • Why people can’t fly, Moscow, Russia, from 2025

Vasily Klyukin’s large-scale public sculptures have been exhibited in a wide range of international urban and cultural settings, illustrating the global reach of his work. His monumental pieces Why People Can’t Fly — 3, 6 and 10-meter-high — have been shown in public art contexts across Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Monaco, the United States, Russia, and Qatar since 2019, including at major events such as the Venice Biennale and the Burning Man festival. Another monumental sculpture by Klyukin is 413, part of his Crypto series. The 4.5-metre brass artwork exists in two editions. One version was first exhibited in Moscow. Then it was shown on the square in front of the Osthaus Museum Hagen, Germany, from September 2022 to December 2024, and later exhibited in Kazan. The second edition was first installed in Vienna, in front of the Kunstforum Bank Austria during Klyukin’s solo exhibition Civilization. The Island on the Day Before. 413 was subsequently relocated to Málaga, Spain, where it remains on public view next to the Branch of the State Russian Museum. Another large-scale sculpture, Mask of Dante, has appeared in public spaces in Italy, France, Monaco, Switzerland (including Zug and Lucerne), and Russia, often coinciding with cultural anniversaries and exhibitions related to Dante Alighieri. In Lucerne, Switzerland, a group of Klyukin’s sculptures based on the theme of Dante's Inferno was exhibited in a scenic outdoor location near Château Gütsch. The sculptural ensemble had previously been shown in the courtyard of the State Russian Museum in Saint Petersburg and later presented as part of the Venice Biennale.