The event is part of the project “Prima Maria Art Boulevard.” The key element of the installation is the yellow lion, a character from the painting Beast Taking a Walk, says Ksenia HABDRAKHIMOVA, PR manager of the project. Maria Prymachenko was known to have a dream. She would like to gather artists and paint buildings in various cities: “what wonderful things we would make! Not only Kyiv would be in bloom. Houses would be smiling at people.”
“Today we made a step closer to Maria Prymachenko, because the opening of an art installation means the start of practical implementation of the project. Soon apartment blocks and administrative buildings along this boulevard will turn into true objects of art. They will be decorated with murals inspired by Prymachenko’s works,” emphasized Eduard AKHRAMOVYCH, the author of the idea of this project. “Moreover, a whole series of original art objects will be created, which would represent the painter’s characters in sculpture. So the entire boulevard will turn into art space.”
Serhii MARTYNCHUK, head of the Pechersk Raion State Administration, said at the opening: “Today art installations have already become a sort of trend, especially in the sphere of public art. It is very symbolic that ‘Prima Maria Art Boulevard’ starts with this very object. The essence of any installation is the change of context, which creates various modifications of senses and a play of meanings. We see this on the example of this installation on the boulevard: this is the beast which literally walked out of the painting and into the street blending into the cityscape.”
Den already wrote about this ambitious art project in Ukraine’s capital, dedicated to the artistic heritage of Maria Prymachenko, an outstanding Ukrainian painter. It is unique in the sense that one of Kyiv’s streets will gradually turn into a representation of the artist’s fantasy world. Apartment blocks, offices, an underpass, and literally all elements of the boulevard will turn into objects of art. It will become a sort of open air museum, inhabited by the characters from Prymachenko’s naive art paintings.
Apart from being a fantastic painter, Prymachenko was also a talented poet. Her wonderful little rhymes, accompanying the paintings, are very easy to remember. Prymachenko became famous back in 1936, when her drawings Beasts from Bolotnia were first displayed at the Ukrainian Exhibit of Folk Art in Kyiv. The world of her characters is wonderful, fantastic, dreamlike. It was based on folk legends, fairy tales, and stories. In her works the world of fantasy and reality intertwine. Everything suggests a fairytale: animals, trees, and flowers act, speak, pursue the good, and overcome the evil. Her birds, for one, are fantastic creatures, often looking like flowers, with embroidered wings, intricate forms, and unusual shapes.
According to art critics, her Pea Beast (1977) is a true masterpiece in her animal series. Of all the animals painted by Prymachenko, this is the most lyrical one. It has big ears and a mane like a lion, the body is decorated with red apples, its forehead, nose bridge, and cheeks are covered with freckles, and it has pink paws ending in something between claws and pincers. Its round black eyes are piercing and curious. The beast, a bright color spot, looks woven from sunrays and pink-and-black clouds.
At first glance, Prymachenko’s works suggest something primitive, as if approximate. Yet a deeper study reveals the hand of the master, her artistic style which reflects her own perception of the world.
According to the program of “Prima Maria Art Boulevard,” 16 thematic sculptural compositions will be created on the basis of her paintings, as well as 3 theme arches, 2 entrance sculptural groups, and a series of murals. Besides, the underpass at the crossing of Maria Prymachenko and Lesia Ukrainka boulevards will be decorated with mosaics. Maria Prymachenko monument and memorial plaque will be installed as well. They will become the venue for commemorating the artist’s memory on her birthday, January 13. The “art boulevard” will be 500 meters long.
