Taras Polataiko (b. 1966 Chernivtsi, Ukraine) is a Canadian- Ukrainian primarily exhibiting as a performance artist, photographer, and painter. Polataiko is known for his exploration and analysis of political history, consistently pushing the viewer experience often leaving one at unease. He received an Education Certificate at the Provincial Art School, Chernivtsi, Ukraine (1976-1981); attended a two-year program in arts at Kosiv College of Art, Ukraine (1981-1983); an undergraduate B.F.A equivalent degree at the Moscow Stroganov Institute of Fine and Industrial Arts, Moscow, Russia (1983-1989); and an M.F.A at the University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada (1990-1993). His works have been exhibited throughout Canada and internationally including The Institute of Modern Art, Chicago, IL (2000); Caelum Galley, New York, NY (1996, 1997); Mendel Art Gallery, Saskatoon, SK (1992, 1996, 1997, 1998); and the Diane Farris Gallery, Vancouver, BC (1993, 1994, 1995). Some of his more notable works include ‘Sleeping Beauty’ (2012) which was performance piece presented at the National Art Museum of Ukraine where viewers were required to sign a contract that if they kiss the Beauty and she were wake up that they would agree to marry her; ‘Cradle’ (1995) which was composed of a cast-iron, nickel-plated tub suspended from the ceiling with five litres of the artists contaminated radioactive blood due to the artists choice to be within the same vicinity of the Chernobyl disaster; and ‘Artist as a Politician: In the Shadow of the Monument’ (1992) where the artist dressed similar to the Hnatyshyn statue commissioned by sculptor Bill Epp, which was intended to celebrate the hundred year mark of Ukrainian settlement within Canada. Polataiko adorned in bronze colours stood up to the subjugation of having a single deceased political figure be a role model for a wide variety of people within the Ukrainian-Canadian community by mimicking the structure for an hour during seven separate occasions.