Year of Maria Prymachenko
A new album of the works created by this master of naive art is published
Under President Viktor Yushchenko’s edict, 2009 is marked in Ukraine as the Year of Maria Prymachenko. The celebration of her birth centennial started at the end of 2008. Den’ closely followed the art gallery owner Pavlo Hudimov’s project in which young painters transformed the creative legacy of this world-renowned master of naive art into modern things like prints, fonts, and so on.
On Dec. 18, 2008, the Ukrainian Museum of Folk Decorative Art launched an exposition of 180 works illustrating various stages of her work, from the 1930s to the 1980s. This is probably Ukraine’s first exhibit that practically embraces Prymachenko’s entire heritage. The works on display were borrowed from the Ukrainian Folk Decorative Art Museum. Some of the pictures have been displayed on more than 80 exhibits in Ukraine and abroad.
The publication of an album of her works is a logical step in the project commemorating Prymachenko’s birth centennial. There are previously published catalogs, but this album contains some 270 works created in 1936-87 and appears to cover her legacy most comprehensively.
The album was the initiative of the museum and the National Association of Craftsmen. However, the album has a small print run: a mere 500 copies.
“I like this album very much. First, it has a system, a retro view, and illustrates the process of individual creative growth. Here you can trace the stages, which is very important for the art lover. And its overall design is an attractive book-like ensemble,” says the art critic and TV cultural analyst Liudmyla Lysenko, who kept in close contact with Maria Prymachenko for 32 years.
She adds: “There are pictures that are like sonnets, requiring a separate page. As in television, here you have to show a long-distance view, then a medium-range one, and than a close-up view. There is even a macro-view where you can see every brush stroke. I have long planned a project with three approaches to Prymachenko’s genius: the countryside that refuses to acknowledge her; the city that uses her works, and the world that expects a miracle. I’m looking for a professional film director to carry out this project. I already have a tentative agreement with Vasyl Ilashchuk (President of the National Television Company of Ukraine) on a series of weekly 10-minute programs entitled ‘Maria Prymachenko: I Bequeath You My Love’ that will run for the entire year. I would like to combine modern visualization with Prymachenko’s root system. After all, I was fortunate enough to see her in daily life.”
There is another exhibit at the Artists House in Kyiv that is dedicated to Prymachenko, featuring stylized works by Ukrainian artists.
Says the artist Nelli Isupova: “Six of my works dedicated to Prymachenko are on display there. Needless to say, Prymachenko inspires all applied artists with her perception of the world. I, for one, try not to copy her style, although I share her optimistic, joyful perception of the world. This is a very delicate boundary line beyond which you start copying. I try not to look at her works [while doing mine], but they are very much alive in my subconscious and have an impact on my creative works.”
