Alchemy of Simplicity is the title of an art show that just opened at the Griffon Gallery. On display are paintings by the Zhytomyr-based artist Yurii Kamyshny, which co-exist organically with the ceramic sculptures of the Kyiv artists Bohdan Matviienko and Oleksandr Yarovy.
Still lifes (Still Life with a Wasp) and landscapes (Grandmother’s Cherries) are the favorite genres of Kamyshny. Landscape, especially the one pictured in An Old Thatched House, is the ark of eternity that protects the genetic memory of Ukrainians. But the art here is not limited to the paintings themselves. Many pictures find an important and sometimes indispensable continuation: for example, in a plastic frame that contains a real knife for peeling fruit (Life on Paper), fruit pits (a tasty treat for Yevhen Kontsevych’s Loyal Guard), or a ladder (A Song Rings Out of the Woods). This Zhytomyr-based artist shows the grandeur of simple and well-known things - sometimes with humor (The Return of a Deputy), and sometimes with heart-breaking tenderness or sadness (Maybe Mom Will Come Out, Mother Still Lives on Her Farm).
In their works Matviienko and Yarovy resurrect various ceramic traditions (Trypillian culture, folk art), but above all they are interesting and original modern masters.
