Serhii Zhyvotkov’s “La Bella Pittura”

Serhii Zhyvotkov is an artist of the late 1980s – the time of “break and transition,” from the generation that defiantly broke all the canons and set itself free from the shackles of socialist realism. His peers in the heat of excitement of innovation, intoxicated with freedom since perestroika crossed the line of aesthetic and entered the area of extraordinary – ugly and tabooed things. The aesthetic views of the Zhyvotkov brothers Serhii and Oleksandr crystallized distinctly in contrast to the extremism of radicals. The Renaissance ideal of harmony between man and nature, which was threatened in the time of Chornobyl, became a particular concern for the brothers. They considered themselves to be the guardians of beauty. They worked with their father Oleh Zhyvotkov in a tiny studio. It remains a mystery for me what kind of working schedule they had in there, because there was hardly enough space for one of them at a time. Only a narrow passage from the door to the window was free from the pile of paintings. From time to time the artists showed their work to friends and visitors in that small crack. This was the place where the individual style of each of the brothers took shape.

A representative of the new generation, Serhii his search of the perfect form was following the principles of pictorial asceticism and lyrical insight into the plot. You get an impression that some mystical director was leading Serhii to his masterpieces, the latest “Italian Series.” Despite the psychological and socio-cultural reformations of the early 1990s, a harmonious palette of Piero della Francesca kept living in Serhii’s mind. The formation and continuous presence of the idealistic (romantic) worldview were enhanced by his father’s lessons both at home and in school. Oleh Zhyvotkov has trained several generations of Ukrainian artists and created beautiful art works. Zhyvotkov brothers’s uncle Mykhailo Rudakov was another center of attraction, even an idol. He was a man with a dramatic biography: a soldier, who later found himself in Nazi and later in Stalin’s concentration camps, an artist who enjoyed a great respect of underground Moscow in the 1960s through the 1980s, and leading figures of underground art Russia listened up to him. A welcome person in all circles, from academicians to Moscow bohemia, Rudakov laid a solid ethical foundation in the minds of young Zhyvotkovs. Quite knowledgeable about the classical art, the brothers valued early Italian art and persuasiveness of Giotto’s frescoes especially high.

Rebellious avant-garde of the 1910s and 1920s had a prominent place in Serhii’s mind along with the Italian classical art. He was fascinated with futurology in thinking of Vasilii Kandinsky, Oleksandr Arkhipenko, Kazemir Malevich, neo-Byzantism of Mykhailo Boichuk, their understanding of a form that creates an image and becomes its content.

In Sedniv, while working on minimalistic compositions, Serhii found a way to spiritual vision in a concise form and pure color. Later “formism” became the essence of his figurative cycles: “Carpathian Motives” (1990-91), “Old Ukrainian Motives” (1992-94), “Bible Series” (1990-98), and others.

“The Female Images” (1991-99) is a continuous creative theme. It formed the fundamentals of Serhii’s thinking and “spelling” of his writing. These images – mostly half-figures or generalized in Giotto style, post-like figures distinguished by contours.

In the “Ukrainian Motives” Serhii paid special attention to delicate nuances of painting, horizontally built landscape, and rhythmic alternation of vertically placed figures’ signifiers. Refined minimalistic coloring conveys special state of concentration in the contemplation of cosmic entities of seemingly banal landscape.

“Bible Series” that consists of 42 paintings was also created according to the principles of author’s “lyrical monumentalism.” Scenes from the Old and New Testament run through his entire creative life. They remained as a cardiogram of Serhii’s moral and ethical consciousness brought up in the aura of artistic and Christian tradition. Compositions, small in size, are intimate, heart-felt, resembling the icons that are kept in homes. They all are a sincere and deep prayer. Leading themes of biblical mythology, which served as a basis for Byzantine, Russia, all of the Renaissance and Baroque, were taken by Serhii as a gift of a divine culture back in time when he was a student. Sometimes there appears the Eternal City in the line of the horizon. Sadly, the dream of Jerusalem remained for Serhii a fata morgana. But the dream of visiting Italy, which was his dearest wish since childhood, came true in 1993.

The first touch to old pavements and churches of Europe was connected with his trip to Prague, but Italy… Serhii was already standing on its doorstep.

Cherished since childhood, known from piles of reproductions, books, lectures Italy turned out to be different, even more vulnerable. Italy had charmed Serhii right away like love, magic, impossible to understand, depriving him of sleep but granting talent vigor. Serhii was impressed with Rovena, Florence, and Venice just as greatly, as Dante was stunned with Beatrice. The culmination of the Italian mirage was Venice. When he saw the most whimsical architectural marvel of the city that grew out of the sea, the airly luxury of palaces, the column with a lion and St. Mark on the shore, Serhii realized that this was the home of his soul.

The joy of traveling, creative fury, the before unknown ecstasy began to shape into a perfect form of the series “Blue Italy” (exhibition in the gallery “Irena,” Kyiv, 1995-96). He painted the compositions quickly, skillfully using the arsenal of his own stylistics. Venetian scenes were like a ghost – everything had to be shown. There a gondola is swimming along the quite deserted channel. Coloristic “pianissimo” – minuet of artistic structures, covered with light, and seemingly groundless sadness, is characteristic of the entire series “Blue Italy.” The whole “Italian Series” is very impressive because these paintings are the result of mixing of passion and the long-lasting process in artist’s mind during his psychological states: happiness, sadness, melancholy, and reflection. His paintings, like imaginary wandering of an artist, create a special world, immerse the viewer in it, and charm him right away. Giorgio de Chirico’s words, who in 1922 wrote about Morandi’s painting, can be attributed to the work of Serhii Zhyvotkov: “Secret shells of things open to him in the nicest aspects. That is how he takes part in the great poetry that creates new and powerful European art.”