Yelena Maksutay

Born in 1981 in Switzerland, Yelena Maksutay lives and works in Vienna and Zurich. Originally trained as a graphic designer, she later completed her Master of Arts in Fine Arts at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna in 2022. Her artistic practice focuses on drawing, video, performance, and installation. She investigates the human body as a site where physical, psychological, and spatial boundaries emerge and shift. Large-scale, often serial drawings form the core of her work, tracing processes of repetition, tension, and transformation. Her video and performance pieces extend these questions into the social field, examining intimacy, distance, identity, and relational dynamics. Across media, Maksutay’s work reflects a persistent inquiry into how existence and boundaries are formed, perceived, and negotiated.

Collection Wien Museum Public Collection

Artist in Residence Yuka Yugetsu, Noko Island, Fukuoka, Japan: March 27th to May 24th, 2024

Group exhibitions 2024 Lovers in Heaven, Außenstelle Kunst, Vienna, Austria
2016 – 2022 Rundgang, Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, Vienna, Austria
2022 BO TH, studio glockengasse 8a, Vienna, Austria
2020 #JapanRevistied202x: then–now–after, Austrian Cultural Forum Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
2019 All Paper Show, Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, Vienna, Austria
2019 Open Studio, studio das weisse haus, Vienna, Austria
2018 Schilling, Mark, Dollar, Euro und… Geld in der Kunst, Kunst im Traklhaus, Salzburg, Austria
2013 Of course, no color without light, Box43, Zurich, Switzerland
2013 DAS IST DAS HAUS am YIX, YIX, Vienna, Austria

Publications #JapanRevisited202x: THEN—NOW—AFTER, 2021
Schilling, Mark, Dollar, Euro und ... Geld in der Kunst, 2018

Awards Nominated: SIMACEK Art Award, 2023
Nominated: Preisjury Kunst, 2022. The Art Prize Jury awards annual prizes for artistic diploma/final theses.
XAVER, The Swiss Award for Excellence in Live Communication, 2009
Association SWISS MEDIA, Competition for Young Creatives, “Das kann nur ein Inserat”, 2005