Count Down
Зворотній відлік
2011
series of paintings
серія картин
In this painting series I reduce images of Social-realistic paintings to the abstract pictures. I made copies of paintings by using soviet albums but I removed all narration and figurative and left only blurs and colours. This series is attempt to reinvent abstraction and make link between Sotial-realism period and the present.
Copy of the painting “Declaration of Soviet Power in Ukraine. Kharkiv, 1917”
by A. Konstantynopolsky and
O. Khmelnytsky, 1960
The work “Copy of a painting...” is from the series “Countdown” that, for the artist, was an experience in overcoming the historical gap between socialist realism and modern artistic practices. The practice of creating this series involves observing from a new distance in relating to the past, and the search for an approach to guide between di erent methods of seeing.
acrylic on canvas
2012
Exposition view
Festivities Are Cancelled!
The Kyiv International - Kyiv Biennial 2017
Ukrainian Institute of Scientic, Technical and Economic Information, Kyiv,
2017
The copy of the “Chernomorets” painting by Victor Pusyrkov
Performance
National Art Museum of Ukraine, Kyiv
2017
The copy of the “Chernomorets” painting by Victor Pusyrkov at the National Art Museum of Ukraine is the next stage of a long-term work started by the artist in 2012: “This work is an attempt to deconstruct my own experience of gurative painting through the transformation of socialist realism into an abstract image. For me, the transformation of a socialist realistic picture into abstraction is the study of one of the historical gaps missing between that period and the present. To transgress your own experience, you need to have some resistance or method. I used the old Soviet albums with reproductions—I put them at an angle to further distract from the content of the image. I put the canvas on the wall at an angle as well.
For my work performed at the museum, I chose the method of “blindness”. There is a theory that the artist ceases to distinguish between colors, if a red object appears between him and nature. I learned about this at the admission exams to Art Academy, when one of the prospective students showed up dressed in bright red to demoralize his competitors during the painting assignment. To copy the picture of “Chernomorets”, I had invited assistants who stood between me and the picture swinging a red cloth attached to a stick. “
