The Triptych Art gallery in the capital has opened an original exposition, where all the works seem to lead the viewer: from war to peace.
In the center of Kyiv on the evening of March 9, an exhibition “Consecrated by Fire” was opened, which was attended by about two hundred people, including foreigners. Among the latter, the Japanese journalist Naboro Atsuro, who arrived in Ukraine on a humanitarian mission, stood out, he actively filmed the discovery and work on camera. Bearing in mind how important air defense is for all of us, it is not surprising that air defense has become a component of the art presented at the exposition. Volunteers brought fragments of covers from the launch container of Ukrainian S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems to the capital – the container shatters into debris during launch. Leading Ukrainian artists painted them: each in his own style. Who – on a military theme – explosions on earth and in the sky, but most of the peaceful: angels, children, beautiful women. The exhibition turned out not so much about our military present as about a peaceful future! Focus will tell and show you its exhibits.
It all started with volunteers
Gallery of contemporary art “Triptych Art” (director Tatiana Savchenko) together with the charity foundation “KOZAK-DRIVE” opened a charity exhibition-auction “Consecrated by Fire”. As Oksana Danchenko, curator of the exposition and PR manager of Triptych Art, told Focus, the idea of the exhibition was born after talking with volunteers.
The exhibition caused a stir. About 200 people came to the opening
Photo: Marina Brikimova
Volunteer Oleksandr Ryabtsun, who drives cars for our military, offered the gallery his inlay: on the fragment of a container of a Ukrainian missile, an inscription was made with cartridges: “I love air defense.”
Alexander Ryabtsun, “I love air defense”
Photo: Marina Brikimova
Danchenko decided to develop this idea in the art environment: to give the leading Ukrainian artists such a fragment, so that they, each in their own style, make a drawing on it. And sell at auction for $500-700 – all the money will be transferred to the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Project curator Oksana Danchenko gives an interview to the TV channel
Well-known Kyiv creators responded. The exhibition caused a lot of excitement. About two hundred people crowded into the not-so-large gallery room: the public, the press, TV.
The famous TV and radio presenter Tatyana Goncharova led the action. She singled out Alexander Mikitenko’s “Pandora’s Box” installation, which stands out from the general format and was made from an ammunition box of a wrecked Russian tank: a tiny white baby figurine is enveloped in a black explosion.
Alexander Mikitenko “Pandora’s Box”
This black-and-white installation with red illumination was placed in the corner, just as once, in 1915, Kazimir Malevich hung his “Black Square” in the corner at the first Suprematist exhibition.
From war to peace
As for the project “Consecrated by Fire”, all the works here seemed to lead the viewer: from war to peace. In some, the military theme dominated, in others – peaceful, and some of the creations were “transitional”.
The first is the work “Cotton in the Crimea” by Anton Logov: Crimeans lying on the beach see a table of smoke from the explosion in the distance. Logov is a strong-willed master who skillfully promotes his work, capturing different styles: from abstractionism to figurative painting and installations.
From the first days of the war, he tried to reflect it in his painting. His series “Bucha” is a transformation in art of terrible documentary photos of people killed in Bucha.
Painter Yuri Denisenkov presented the work “Fiery Flower” – an explosion from a rocket shot down in a clear azure sky. Denisenkov reflects in his work the theme of the elusiveness of time and attempts to fix it in various technical ways – television (stage, backstage projects) or photographs (“Full Room”).
Yuri Denisenkov “Fiery Flower”
Vladislav Shereshevsky, an artist known for his ironic paintings (recall, his popular Smoke on the Water was sold at the Dukat auction in favor of the Armed Forces of Ukraine for $15,000 – the title plays on the name of the Deep Purple hit – on the canvas is a man with a can of beer, sitting on the seashore , watching the cruiser Moskva burning on the sea horizon) did a tough job of portraying the dead Russian occupier.
The name is also sarcastic: “199” (killed is “200”, wounded – “300”), that is, deader than dead. “The more occupiers are destroyed, the closer victory is,” Shereshevsky says at the exhibition. The organizers did not believe that such a gloomy work would sell. But they were wrong. It was bought before anyone else – for half a thousand dollars. Shereshevsky has a circle of admirers who collect his paintings.
Vladislav Shereshevsky is always expressive
Photo: Marina Brikimova
Part of the work “in the middle” is a mixture of war and peace. The vertical work “Consecrated by Fire” by Alexei Ivanyuk is a fragment with the silhouette of a wolf, and on it is a formidable, black-and-red sky, as if from flashes of explosions – the color of the sky, very familiar to many Ukrainians.
In general, Ivanyuk’s style of painting is close to Mark Rothko’s – semi-abstract, two- or three-color landscapes.
Alexey Ivanyuk “Consecrated by Fire”
“Peregrine Falcon” by Peter Bevza – a formidable bird of prey soars in the gloomy sky, spreading its wings.
And here are the two wings at the work of Alexei Litvinenko “Grass heals wounds” – a transition to peace.
“Siren” by romantic artist Sergei Kornievsky: a girl stands in a puddle, and helicopters “sink” in the reflection of the water.
“Angels” by Ed Potapenko are people who, as if in a dream, rise: from the fiery space of war – to the blue sky, folded in the form of Ukrainian folk patterns.
There, in this sky – “Angel-Defender” Evgeny Gula.
And on earth, Andrey Dudchenko’s “Madonna in Kyiv” protects us – it is drawn in his surrealistic style, close to the Italian Giorgio de Chirico.
And a completely colorful paradise, as if from the magical anime “Paprika” – this is “Dreams on the wreckage” by Andrey Gurenko.
Andrey Gurenko “Dreams on the wreckage”
It’s funny, but true: among male visitors, Alexander Levich’s erotic drawing “Love for Life”, which depicts a naked appetizing woman – a rear view, enjoyed constant success. This is a completely peaceful story!
Men gathered near the erotic drawing by Alexander Levich “Love for life”
Photo: Marina Brikimova
This is how any visitor can walk this path from war to peace at this atmospheric exhibition, sparkling with the energy of the country’s best artists.
High public interest: everyone filmed the work
The exhibition “Consecrated by Fire” can be visited on March 11 and 12 – on Saturday and Sunday. Address: Kyiv, gallery “Triptych Art”, Desyatinnaya, 13, opening hours: 13:00 – 19:00.
We highly recommend. Then the exhibition-auction will be closed – auction expositions usually do not last long. But the peculiarity of this one is that it in itself looks like a single, integral work of art.
Artists and gallery owners – the authors of the exhibition
Photo: Marina Brikimova
This doesn’t happen often. To be honest, I would extend the exhibition.
Free admission.
