“More often than not, people, especially men, are ashamed of their tenderness. They mistake it for weakness,” says Borys Buriak. His exhibition called “Tenderness” is an attempt to reveal tenderness, that is, that subtle and illusive vibration of the world and that delicate appeal of things which is usually hidden under the iron shell of cynicism. This tenderness finds a place in the countless landscapes, still lifes, and, of course, female nude images created by Borys Buriak.
One cannot but admire the artist’s love for his home city. Little wonder that most his landscapes are devoted to Lviv. For example, in one of his pictures the artist depicted the Rynkova Ploshcha (i.e., City Market Square) as a fairy-tale town inhabited by magicians and beautiful fairies. In another picture the visitors can see this same square taking a deep breath after a long and hot summer day in the pleasurable anticipation of the coolness of a forthcoming evening. A little further away there is a picture showing the same square waking up early in the morning with its face neatly washed by an overnight thunderstorm. The moment the city’s powerful energy merges with the artist’s keen instinct a beautiful and, what is more important, tender work of art is born.
“Borys Buriak is an expert in color shades and nature. It takes him several months to paint a picture. His still lifes, particularly flowers, have tender and flickering look about them and sometimes even resemble bright stained glass windows,” says art critic Viktoria SOLOD’KO.
Quite often, we simply avoid showing our tenderness, inner feelings and affection because being indifferent is seen as a sure way to protect ourselves and survive in this world. Art itself is turning into caricature while criticizing and exposing the brutal realities of our life. According to Buriak this is very dangerous because we are losing the most important human qualities: a sense of beauty hidden in the everyday prose of existence, the ability to empathize with another person and to feel happy. “Indeed, tenderness is soft power. A classic said that a truly strong man is the one who can show weakness,” says the artist.
However, the exhibition is not a collection of mawkish and rosy-eyed paintings but rather of sensual, dynamic and profound works of art which are anything but mushy. The pictures are imbued with complex metaphysics and esoteric allusions. It seems as if their images are made of trembling mosaic multi-colored spots. They exercise an exhilarating strong influence on the gallery visitors.
Borys Buriak is an iconic figure in the Ukrainian contemporary culture. He is a painter, philosopher, lecturer, and an honorary senator of the Roman Modern Art Academy. His works are exhibited in art galleries of France, Belgium, Austria, Italy and Germany. His paintings even took the fancy of Austrian Baroness Christine Schoenborn and British Lord Sir Andrew Fielding. Unfortunately, Borys Buriak is better known abroad than in his homeland.
The Tenderness art exhibition will be on display in the art gallery Mystetska Zbirka at 13, Tereshchenkivska Street until December 16.
