The capital gallery Tadzio opens the exhibit of emigrant artist Lucien Dulfan which is called “Space. Mythogony.” The exposition also includes works on oriental themes and canvases from the famous “Kiss” series.
Lucien Dulfan is a third generation Odesite. He was born in 1942 in evacuation in the city of Frunze (Kyrgyzstan). In 1963, he graduated from the Grekov Art College in Odesa. Since 1966, he took part in all-union and international exhibits. In 1989, Dulfan received an invitation from the US and Canadian galleries to hold exhibits, and eventually he was offered a professor of painting position at the college in Poughkeepsie [NY –Ed.] Since 1990, the artist is living and working in the US. Now the works of Lucien Dulfan are kept in the National Art Museum of Ukraine, the Tretyakov State Gallery, the State Russian Museum, and also at museums of Seoul, Warsaw, Poznan and in many private collections.
The owner of the Tadzio gallery and art critic Olena YAHODOVSKA told about the significance of Dulfan’s creative work for Ukrainian culture:
“This is the artist’s first personal exhibit in Kyiv. An entire generation grew up unfamiliar with his works. And he is already a myth, a legend. I implemented about 30 projects that contributed to the return of the artists who were born or lived in Ukraine and were part of our culture. Dulfan is a component of Ukrainian art.
“Lucien is at home in pop art, he very artistically combines collage, textile and canvas. In contemporary art, it does not matter what material the work is made of. What matters is the message that it sends. Dulfan has an incredibly high level of aesthetics, beauty, harmony and ‘hooliganism.’ His works are distinguished by their theatricality and fierce creative energy.
“In Odesa [in Soviet times. – Author] there were many good, non-ideologized artists, but the biggest hooligan of the city’s artistic milieu was Lucien, who is still called Lucy, despite the fact that he is already 69 years old...”
The Kyiv writer and philosopher Volodymyr BABYCHEV shared his impressions with The Day:
“In my opinion, Lucien Dulfan and Sergei Parajanov are very similar. Both in their creative work were so impetuous that their creative motion was ahead of the thought. They are deeply philosophic, as they invite us to the direct clue of the meaning of gestures. Our Lucien was and remains such a ‘spouting’ person. And visiting his ‘theater’ is the award of fate...”
