Art Ukraine Gallery occupies two floors. The exhibition on the first one is “Virtual Mythology” – a collection of “salon abstractionism” paintings by Stepan Riabchenko. The zeroth, ground floor displays famous Ukrainian artists. The central figure of the latter display is a Kyiv-based sculptor and graphic artist Oleksandr Sukholit. It is difficult to overestimate his influence on the artistic environment of the capital, and of Ukraine in general. He created, independently or in cooperation with like-minded people, new styles in sculpture, combining the most diverse techniques and genres, and getting to paradoxical, but always talented results. His cult status of the entire 1990s’ generation of artists is well deserved. The gallery’s visitors are shown his sculptures and graphic art – large sheet drawings on the topic of motherhood. A decent company to these artworks are the paintings by the following artists: Oleh Tistol, founder of the art group “Natsprom” and creator if his own version of pop art; Oleksandr Roitburd, bright public figure and author of ironic art; Anatolii Kryvolap – the only Ukrainian artist to set two world records in sales of contemporary Ukrainian art at the international art market.
Art Ukraine Gallery is the first project of Natalia Zabolotna after being fired from the post of director general at Art Arsenal this spring. Let’s hope that the gallery will have a trouble-free future, because the legal status of the building it is located in is still uncertain: this is the same skyscraper that was built over 10 years ago at the Mariinsky Park and is still uninhabited because the developers have never adhered to the court decision to dismantle the two upper floors.
In general, the gallery is part of a broader platform that includes the website artukraine.fund, the magazine Art Ukraine, and Art Ukraine Bank – a structure that is to create a collection of the Museum of the Future (Museum of Modern Art).
