“UNFOLDING LANDSCAPES – Landscape and Poetics in Contemporary Ukrainian Art”
29.01 - 01.05.2022
Silkeborg Bad, Denmark
In a country known for its radically changing infrastructures, both geographically and politically, it is no surprise that Ukrainian artistic conscience remains grounded in relations between man and environment.
In UNFOLDING LANDSCAPES, we celebrate several generations of artists exploring the topology and psycho-geography of their unique country. As curator Faye Dowling states: “Through their work we learn how the Ukrainian landscape is used, how it is perceived, and what knowledge and understanding we can draw from its unfolding. Evident in this work is a unique paradigm of perception; of the nature of space and its boundaries, of the symbolic meanings of public and private spaces. But beyond all an innate under-standing of the potential to change and evolve, to merge and transmute and reform, or to be reborn, and to flourish.”
The exhibition consists of selected at works by contemporary Ukrainian-born artists from the younger and older current living generations. 42 artists or artist groups, working across painting, drawing, photography, sculpture, installation, video and new media are presented with selected art work. Thematically three themes run as read treads trough these artists’ production, and therefore also can be identified in UNFOLDING LANDSCAPES: 1) Station to station – journeys through Ukrainian culture; 2) Topology, abstractions and observations of a changing landscape, and 3) Vanishing landscapes – studies of the ancient and modern landscapes of Ukraine.
Also, the exhibition marks the 30 years of Ukrainian-Danish diplomatic relations and continues the cultural ties established by the first exhibitions of contemporary Ukrainian art in DK organized by Soviart Center in the late 80s. The author of the idea of implementing the project at Silkeborg Bad is one of the co-founders of Soviart, Ukrainian-Danish artist Sergei Sviatchenko, living in Denmark for the last 30 years. Director of Silkeborg Bad Iben From says:
“With UNFOLDING LANDSCAPES audiences in Denmark are getting a unique in-sight in current artistic practices and contemporary tradition in this huge country. And hopefully people visiting Silkeborg during the exhibition will learn about a very rich artistic art scene in Ukraine. I address a special thanks on behalf of the whole team to Sergei Sviatchenko for the idea of this exhibition and for the efforts to continue cultural diplomacy since the time of the iconic exhibitions between Kyiv and Odense.”
“Over the last three decades so much has changed — in Ukraine, in Denmark, in the world, in art, and in overall philosophical view on the relationship between human and nature. This project is about continuity and heritage, and about transformation, at the same time. Here you can see classic landscape and abstraction where landscape falls into pieces, like atoms. There are both people and non-human who form the landscape, experiments with both "traditional" and new media. There are also scars of the war, as well as that of annexed Crimea, which leave their traces-craters on the curves of landscapes. This exhibition aims to opt out of the colonial exoticism of Ukrainian art, or a presentation of Ukraine as merely a zone of turbulence. It is an attempt to show contemporary Ukrainian art as an organic part of other global processes, as well as a country where, just like anywhere else, we aspire to comprehend our relationship with our unfolding surroundings,” – consultant and coordinator Natalia Matsenko states.
Represented artists:
Anna Bekerskaya (b.1987), Nazar Bilyk (b. 1979), Katya Buchatska (b.1987), Hryhoriy Havrylenko (1927-84), Ksenia Hnylytska (b.1984), Oleksandr Hnylytskyi (1961-2009), Oleg Holosiy (1965-1993), Lucy Ivanova (b. 1989), Zhanna Kadyrova (b.1981), Pavlo Kerestey (b.1962), Vitaliy Kokhan (b.1987), Alexey Kondakov (b.1984), Dana Kosmina (b.1990), Taras Kovach (b.1982), Mykola Kryvenko (b.1950), Anatoliy Kryvolap (b.1947), Katya Libkind (b.1991), Pavlo Makov (b.1958), Sasha Maslov (b.1984), Mykola Matsenko (b.1960), Yevgen Nikiforov (b.1986), Yuriy Pikul (b.1983), Julie Poly (b.1986), Georgiy Potopalskiy (b.1982), Vlada Ralko (b. 1969), Stepan Ryabchenko (b.1987), Vasyl Ryabchenko (b.1954), ruїns collective (active group 2017-21), Andriy Sahaidakovskyi (b.1957), Oleksiy Sai (b.1975), Yuri Solomko (b.1962), Marina Skugareva (b.1962), Tiberiy Silvashi (b.1947), Sergei Sviatchenko (b.1952), Elena Subach (b.1986) & Vyacheslav Poliakov (b.1986), Oleg Tistol (b.1960), Yuri Yefanov (b.1990), Lesia Zayats (b.1965), Viktor Zaretskyi (1925-90), Anna Zvyagintseva (b.1986) and Alexander Zhyvotkov (b.1964).
In March 2022 presented artist Zhanna Kadyrova (represented Ukraine at the Venice Biennale in 2019) will visit Denmark and offer an artist talk here. Further info will be announced when the dates are settled.
UNFOLDING LANDSCAPES: LANDSCAPE AND POETICS IN UKRAINIAN ART is on show
January 29 – May 1, 2022, at the Art Centre Silkeborg Bad, Gjessøvej 40, 8600 Silkeborg, Denmark.
Curator: Faye Dowling, London.
Consultant and coordinator: Natalia Matsenko, Kyiv.
Consultant and idea author: Sergei Sviatchenko, Viborg DK.
Partners: Abramovych Art Agency, Kyiv.
Artist and several private lenders.
Sponsors: Ruslan Tymofeev (Adventures Lab founder).
Danish Art Foundation.Europæisk Kulturregion.
