New art always shocks, alarms, and goes beyond the limits, only to become routine and once again spark the need to rebel. This fate befalls almost all artistic trends and their creators. In this sense, the world has not changed much.
Contemporary art and its followers have a lot of opponents. Not everyone regards the British artist Damian Hurst’s shark in formalin or the Russian artist Oleg Kulik’s man-dog as art. Some even view such works as the devil’s handiwork, at least today.
Along with non-acceptance, contemporary art is also faced by the problem of its identification.
“The term ‘topical art’ (the Ukrainian equivalent of ‘contemporary art’ — Ed.) does not appeal to everybody. It is said that there is a lot of contemporary in it but very little topicality. But time will clarify the definition of this term,” said Ukraine House director Natalia Zabolotna.
“Art is everywhere now, so we should classify and structure it somehow. This is the job of such institutions as museums and galleries,” said the popular contemporary Ukrainian artist Illia Chichkan, responding to one of the most crucial questions in the art world today: what are the criteria for defining creative topicality as art?
Chichkan, who is known as a provocateur, recalls the words of art specialist Borys Hrois, who applies the term “contemporary art” to works that are protected by museums, galleries, and other related institutions.
This year the Art Kyiv 2008 international exhibition and sale laid serious claims to presenting contemporary Ukrainian art. They are serious because, first of all, experts claim there are not that many artists working in the contemporary trend in Ukraine now, and, second, contemporary art is widely regarded as not being art at all. The shows held at Ukraine House are not just for art goers but for the general public as well.
“We must not shock our spectators. We should gradually prepare them for contemporary art,” Zabolotna noted, commenting on the decision to hold an exhibit called Art Kyiv Contemporary next year, which will focus exclusively on modern art.
Meanwhile, visitors to Art Kyiv 2008 are seeing hypermodern works and more traditional contemporary paintings. A decision was made to put media art projects on hold and wait until more favorable conditions are created, such as a museum of modern art, which Ukraine still does not have.
The most interesting part of Art Kyiv 2008 consists of Ukrainian artists’ special projects. Oleksandr Hnylytsky has been living in Munich for some 10 years. He represented Ukraine at the last Venice biennale, and critics called Ukraine’s first appearance at this world-class art forum “worthy.” Hnylytsky is a well-known and sought-after artist in Europe, but he launched his new project “Modesty & Fat” in his native country and was stretching his own canvases for three days before opening day.
“I am a Ukrainian citizen, and I visit Ukraine regularly, every one or two months,” the artist said. “It is always interesting to come back here. In Munich everything is calm. Nothing has changed on the way from my house to the airport for the last 10 years. But here there are so many changes: it takes two months for a new horizon to appear.”
The other part of the exhibit consists of contemporary art from the collections of Dmytro Andriievsky, Ihor Voronov, Volodymyr and Ihor Salo, and other collectors who are regular participants in art events at Ukraine House.
The third part of the show includes works from gallery collections in Ukraine, Russia, Poland, Germany, the Czech Republic, Italy, and France.
“This year there were 350 applications. The organizing committee selected 53 and rejected 297 galleries. Of course, a lot of people were miffed, but at the same time our decision considerably increased the level,” said Oleksii Tytarenko, an art historian and one of the exhibit’s organizers.
