DUSTO’s new work continues the Plants series, which the artist started in 2022. Every plant in this series stands for something. Thistle refers to Leo Tolstoy’s story Hadji Murad, which begins with a description of this plant that metaphorically represents the main character: beautiful, alluring, stately, but wounding if someone tries to pluck it. One can’t pick it up like any other field plant. This work is about steadfastness, the inner core. The artist seems repeat after Tolstoy, ‘What vitality! Man has conquered everything and destroyed millions of plants, yet this one won’t submit.’

Dusto (born 1991, Kirishi) is a St. Petersburg-based artist. Since 2006, he has been doing street art. Dusto is part of the St. Petersburg creative community 10.203, a group of like-minded independent artists which organizes exhibitions and projects in their own gallery-workshop and at other venues. The 10.203 team also includes Maxim Ima, Turben, Ivan Ilyinsky, Heato and Sergey Kk. Dusto’s works are characterised by expressive black lines which the artist inscribes into any space with spray paint, whether it is a canvas or a street window. Dusto uses this style in figurative works (e.g., See you (2021), Who is, Looking, Where? (2022), Bicycle (2023)), and in abstract paintings where these lines take over the entire canvas space.

Currently, Dusto continues to do graffiti, and tries new modes and techniques, making easel works, installations and sculptures. Dusto’s works are owned by the Ruarts Foundation, the Sergey Kuryokhin Contemporary Art Centre, and private collectors.

ARCA is a joint project of the Ruarts Foundation and MMOMA launched in the spring of 2019 as part of the first Street Art Forum, dedicated to the exploration of street art, public art, and graffiti. Every four months, new murals of different Russian street artists appear in the arch of the MMOMA Educational Center on 17 Ermolaevsky Lane (to the right of the entrance). The project has featured Ivan Nainti, Evgeny Muluk, 0331c, NOOTK, Artem Stefanov, Dmitry Aske, Alexey Partola, SY, Petro, Misha Bury, Dmitry Retro, DUSTO, among others.