Memento Vitae. A retrospective of the works of Olena Ovchinnikova - the first solo exhibition of the artist in her homeland during the years of independence
Description
A retrospective of Olena Ovchinnikova's works is the artist's first personal exhibition in her homeland since independence. The exhibition included more than 50 works created by the artist in Ukraine and in exile (USA). These are paintings, watercolors, prints and book graphics.
"This is a big event in the cultural life of Ukraine. The project aims to rediscover a unique Ukrainian artist, underestimated and still almost unknown in her homeland, to inscribe her name and creative heritage in the annals of the national revival of Ukrainian art, which went down in history as the "sixties" movement, says the curator of the exhibition, art critic Oksana Dryness "We also want to pay tribute to the 87-year-old artist, who currently lives in the USA, but continues to enrich Ukrainian culture."
The earliest of the presented works of the artist is a series of linocuts "People from Verkhovyna" (1959-1960). The exhibition also displays a number of works inspired by the ancient village of Halepya, near Tripillia, and its inhabitants.
For the first time, the exhibition presents the artist's sketches for the mural in Kyiv's Intourist hotel, made in 1990. Later, the wall painting was destroyed and the watercolor sketches - "Hopak" and "Krakowiak" - are the only thing left of the artist's outstanding monumental creation.
The culmination of the exhibition is the Decameron series, created by Ovchinnikova in the years 2008-2020 in the USA and recently transferred to the collection of the Museum of the Ukrainian Diaspora in Kyiv. A deep intellectual and connoisseur of the Middle Ages, the artist fulfilled her "lifelong" dream - she illustrated 13 novels by Giovanni Boccaccio.
"Remember life" is the main creative motto of Boccaccio and Olena Ovchinnikova, says the curator of the exhibition, art critic Oksana Pidsukha. "This slogan is eternal and modern. During a plague or war, people must find the strength to live on. And quoting Boccaccio: "...who would have met them on the road, would have said that death will not take them, but if, perhaps, it cuts them down, then cheerfully."
The opening of the exhibition will take place on April 6, 2023 at the address: Museum of the Ukrainian Diaspora, str. Knyazov Ostrozkih, 40 B. Admission to the opening is free. Tel. for information: +380442806418.
About the artist: Olena Ovchinnikova (born in Kyiv, 1935) is a representative of a famous Ukrainian artistic dynasty. Her father, the artist Vasyl Ovchynnikov, headed the Kyiv Museum of Western and Eastern Art (now the Bohdan and Varvara Khanenki National Museum of Art) for 42 years. In 1960, she graduated from the Kyiv Art Institute as a graphic artist. She taught at the National Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1969-1982. She is the author of numerous graphic series and individual works on the Ukrainian theme, which are distinguished by their individual "fresco-monumental" style. She illustrated about 25 books, including Harald Bergstedt's Feast of St. Jorgen (1967), Hryhori Tyutyunnyk's Whirlwind (1972), Yuri Yanovsky's Horsemen (1987). Since 2001, he lives and works in the USA (Homestead, Pennsylvania).
Information:
Ticket price: UAH 50.