The catalogue presents the works of 102 artists and sculptors. According to exhibit organizers, it took four months to choose the exposition, its prime criterion being the ability to give a full picture of contemporary art in Ukraine. The project is being managed by the well-known art expert Olena Yahodovska, member of the International Association of Art Critics (AICA) who has produced, in a joint effort with an art group, the catalogue The ABC of Ukraine’s 21st-Century Contemporary Art.
“We did all this for art’s sake,” Yahodovska told The Day. “It is humiliating to beg for money. Perhaps for this reason some of our artists have wittingly called it an ‘anti-crisis catalogue.’ Naturally, this is rather an individual collection. It is my vision of modern art. There is so much talk about a few dozen well-known names, but are there no other artists? Are they really less talented? I wanted to use this exhibit and catalogue to lift the veil on the current ‘underground’ cultural life in Kyiv. We selected works irrespective of the age of artists (which ranged from 1924 to 1982 and 1986) and their style – all that mattered was the context of the time we are living in. I do not think the artist should be busy promoting themselves; their mission is altogether different – to create.”
The gallery displays 80 pictures that are not part of the catalogue. The organizers managed to unite all these pictures, entirely different in style and theme, into a single tableau that covers the gallery’s entire wall. It took Yahodovska a month to do this. The pictures bear no names, signatures of their authors, or even frames. Instead of canvases, there are pieces of cotton-wool, old wood, etc. Some pictures have a Daliesque streak, while others almost look like fairy tales.
The exhibit will remain open until January 16, offering everyone an opportunity to see a mirror reflection of our reality.
