Артисты стоят за кулисами.

to stand

Breakdown of Артисты стоят за кулисами.

• за: behind
• артист: the performer
• кулиса: the wing

Questions & Answers about Артисты стоят за кулисами.

What exactly does артисты mean? Is it the same as English artists?

No, артисты is not the same as English artists in the general sense.

• артист / артисты usually means performer(s) – people who perform on stage: actors, singers, dancers, circus performers, etc.
• For someone who paints or draws (a visual artist), Russian normally uses художник (plural художники).

So Артисты стоят за кулисами is better translated as “The performers are standing backstage”, not “The artists are standing backstage.”

Why isn’t there a word for “are” in the sentence? Why don’t we see something like они + есть?

Russian does not use the present tense of быть (to be) in simple statements like this.

• English: They are backstage.
• Russian: Они за кулисами. (literally: They backstage. – the “are” is just omitted)

In your sentence, the verb стоят already provides the idea of “are standing”, so there is no need for an extra “are”:

• Артисты стоят за кулисами.
  Literally: Performers stand behind-the-scenes.

Using есть here (Артисты есть за кулисами) would be incorrect and unnatural.

Does mean or ? Is there a progressive form in Russian?