The Museum of Kyiv History, within the framework of the Kyiv Art School project, presents the retrospective exhibition “Vertical of Time” by painter Petro Bevza.

The painting of Petro Bevza is his passion, and color is one of the mysteries of his art. From the very beginning of his creative path, Petro Bevza professes the principle “art around us” and affirms the truth that true art is born from love. He, like no one else, understands that not only a person, but every phenomenon has its own destiny, its own path, its own face and its own purpose.

“For the first time at the Museum and Exhibition Center of The Museum of Kyiv History, we present a personal exhibition of paintings by the artist Petro Bevza, and it is with this exhibition that we continue the Kyiv Art School project in 2024. It is an honor for us to present the works of the artist who tirelessly and consistently searches in his art for the Ukrainian dimension within the space of contemporary world art. It is equally important that the Kyiv Art School project continues and already has its sincere admirers, and this motivates us to continue introducing visitors to the best representatives of the Kyiv School of Painting,” notes Diana Popova, Director General of The Museum of Kyiv History.

The exhibition “Vertical of Time” is retrospective and will include more than 50 paintings by the author Petro Bevza, in which viewers will have the opportunity to trace how pictorial spaces, images, and ideas change and interact. It will also create the atmosphere of a mirror hall, where the spaces of the past, future, and present will be intertwined into a single whole.

“For me, this exhibition is an opportunity within the ‘vertical of time’ to reveal the connections and continuity of tradition, as well as to show the changes and development trends, first of all in my own творчість over 30 years of work. It is also a chance for an interested viewer to find connections and continuity of tradition in the Kyiv Art School. Probably, this is the fundamental goal of the project, since the phenomenon of the Kyiv art school, which is an artistic process currently at the stage of development, has not yet been sufficiently studied,” emphasized Petro Bevza.

The curator of the Kyiv Art School project, Dmytro Struk, notes: “The art of Petro Bevza is extremely multifaceted, and I believe that this artist has already taken his place in the history of Ukrainian art at the turn of the millennium. The cycles created by the artist are philosophical and profound; his works cannot leave viewers indifferent and open new horizons for them.”

About the project:

Kyiv Art School was established jointly with The Museum of Kyiv History in 2017. During this time, retrospective exhibitions of such well-known artists as Petro Lebedynets, Vladyslav Shereshevskyi, Olena Pryduvalova, Oleksii Apolonov, Anna Myronova, Ihor Konovalov, Volodymyr Bovkun, Olesia Dzhuraieva, Anton Lohov, Tetiana Rusetska, and Hanna Kryvolap have taken place. The project demonstrates the history of the formation and development of the Ukrainian Academy of Arts through exhibitions of Kyiv artists who received their professional education at the academy. Thanks to the project, the works of the best contemporary artists replenish the Museum’s collections and contribute to preserving the history of Kyiv art for new generations.

About the artist:

Petro Bevza is a person who combines several roles. An architect by education, he wrote screenplays for films, edited the first Ukrainian magazines on contemporary art, and created the first art objects/installations in Ukraine.

The artist was born on January 1, 1963, in the village of Shpytky in the Kyiv region in a family of teachers. He graduated from the Kyiv State Art Institute (1985). In 1990 he joined the National Union of Artists of Ukraine, and in the same year his first solo exhibition of painting was presented.

The artistic means used by the artist are non-provocative in content and non-aggressive in form. He is characterized by a metaphorical avoidance of the need to call things “by their proper names” in order “not to scare away” their possible meanings.

The artist’s work has been marked by a large number of international awards. His works are held in many museums in Ukraine and around the world.

He lives in the city of Kyiv and works in the fields of painting, sculpture, and land art.