olha pryymak

I have been dabbing in paint for a past couple of months along with several lovely ladies from International Women’s Club in Kyiv proudly calling Yuri Solomko – our teacher ( he represented Ukraine in 2001 Venice bienalle). The highlights of the exhibition at Tychyna Museum that came out from this group are the Ukrainian dolls by Nathalie Bobrynska and amazing painstakingly detailed copies of Ukrainian old masters by Marisol Franks, and of course two of my beauties The art will be on show at the museum for another week.

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Tychyna Muzeum, 5 Tereshchenkivska St. , apt. 1,3

Stopped by there this week, greeted by this fine Roitburt at the door . The rest of the exhibit were funky sculptures made of glass and neon, little buddas, bunnies, snowman, etc. lit up from inside and out. Looked like a collective of several artists’ work. I always like to come back to Zeh, feels so exclusive going into an obscure gate with ironmonger’s’ shops and the gallery way in the back. This time I was greeted with this wonderful pieces, I am sure set out as an installation. Also found a new graffiti on a garbage can right there – a great addition to my collection.

Illiynska 16, Podil open 11ish t0 17

Along with the charitable concert, Elton “Serovich” John has brought his photography collection, for Pinchuk’s money of course, which is all for the better. The artists list is very impressive, Ryan Mcginley being my favoarite. His pictures gracing Vice magazine cover breathe with the same youth ease and beauty. The first day opening of the exhibit brought in the cool young but not yet famous (since the pre-opening happened the day before) crowd.

The reviews in the press were great for Sasha Makarska, the young figurative painter from the R.E.P. group of artists (Kadan, Khomenko, etc.) .   Here are some oils on canvass  that looked most attractive.  The gallery sits behind the botanical garden in the vicinity of University metro station. Inside interior is very Western, the catalogues for the artists they represented within a year of their existence are stellar quality.

Collectsia gallery

University Metro stop, 8 Pankovska st.

Tryptyh (Triptych) gallery heavily works for sales. Its Andriyivsky uzviz location allows for easy access and association with the other good galleries. But in the past year its shows caught my attention several times.

The exhibit that just ended by Mykhailo Demtsiu figurated in the local press. His oils intrigued with freshness and clear bright colors, had an ethnic Carpathian feel to it. Seems like the artist allpies paints straight out of the tubes.  Demtsiu is not an up and coming local artist, his works go for Western prices (he seems to be popular in France) but it only pleases me now to know that someone in Ukraine is capable of buying him too.

There is a lot of talk on the town about Gapchinska. She is labeled for being outwardly commercial, a mere children’s book illustrator, etc-etc. I did not want to put in my five cents untill I visited her gallery on Mykailivska and now I did! All those labels are true and then some more. Her images are very likable, simple, and highly sellable (and for a very hefty price).

Behind the saccharine decorations there is a solid concept, certain recognizable style in which all works are kept. and great business cunning. I send my regards for all of those points. And finally, why criticize unnecessarily if ultimately the works sell? As my wise art teacher said, there will be a buyer for every artwork, just need to find the right match. And what if this matchmaking is done with a bit of marketing help? The rest is while envy. Go see the ongoing exhibit!

16 Mykhailivska (shares the entrance with some law firm)

I already wrote of Pinchuk Art Center, Zeh, and RA Gallery. Those and a few more are the galleries to watch for local European-quality art in Kyiv.

The few more galleries that I would like to explore more are KyivFineArt (it’s quite new), Bereznytsky gallery (it’s quite off the way for me but will make the effort) and the Center of Modern Art at NaUKMA. The latter I visited a couple of times, but every time it’s been really angry and edgy installations uninspiring to write about. They brought to us the recent World Press Photo exhibit and the notorious R.E.P group of artists. And finally a couple of old-school galleries on Andriyivsky uzviz are very much worth a visit.

And now the Mystetskyi Arsenal by Lavra unexpectedly opens with a show of a Ukrainian-American artist personal exhibit. We’ll see soon if the space gains the profile high enough to join the above mentioned galleries.

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Pinchuk Art Center – 1-3/2 Baseyna St.

RA Gallery -32 B. Khmelnytskogo St.

Zeh – 16 Illijnska St.

Kyiv Fine Art – 12 W. Zhytomyrska St.

Bereznytskyi Gallery – 22 Rybalska St.

Modern Art Center at NaUKMA – 2 Skovorody Sq.

This week I am sticking around my hometown meanwhile my parents decided to commission a painting on a very pertinent subject of beekeeping. So we came over to a studio of a local artist Svitlana Kostukevych with some home-made honey and all. And found a whole lot of artists’ studios, gallery, art supplies shop, antiques, plus a children’s art school – all crammed in the same building. How convenient!

Most of the artists represented here are of Lviv school ( vs. the Kyiv school). As per Kostukevych explanation, the Lviv trainees tend to express themselves more free, abstract and imaginative, while the Kyevites stick to traditional ways of laying a stroke. Below I am putting out some pictures of paintings snapped from a brochure to give you an idea of the choices available. Some of them I know ever since art school, others (like Yuriev) are new to me.

Yuryev

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Rusanovych

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Great place to get the feel of end XVIII Century Kyiv! Full of artifacts, old photos and all kinds of trinkets, well designed and presented. They even have their catalogue published soon, the pleasant cashier lady informed us.

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The National Art Gallery in Kyiv has put out a good exhibit, covering the early 19th Century in the lives of gentry, peasants and city folk in Ukraine. It’s a shame that the museum presents no catalog of the artwork, and the presentation lacked the luster associated with the major museums of Europe. But nevertheless, its the art that counts! Well-known Pymonenko, Levytski, Kostandi, Murashko paintings carry a wealth of information on the period lifestyle. Little-known watercolors and etchings of great estates and interiors add to the picture.

National art museum

2 Grushevskogo St.

228-6482