Born in 1976, Kyrgyzstan, Alexey Biryukoff has been an established artist for over 20 years. Now living and working in Western Pennsylvania, USA. His art concentrates on male nudes and portraits, inspired by the bear and leather communities. Alexey attempts to bring forward body positivity and exploration of alternative lifestyles in his work. Naked male flesh in general is often underrepresented in art and in our modern culture overall, where even old masterpieces with male nudity get censored. Somebody described his work as “non-glamorous”, meaning that his subjects are not “Greek gods” from a magazine cover. People are beautiful just the way they are, and all body types should be celebrated and not shamed for not meeting the unrealistic standards forced by corporate advertising. He likes the use of extreme perspectives, taking an average man next door and treating their body as a piece of architecture or a monument, towering above the viewer, telling their unique story with the marks, scars, wrinkles, and spare tire that are the land marks of their journey.