Youth about war

The title of the exhibit, “unframed,” means no boundaries. On the one hand, the works of the artists recreate the actual view on what is going on today, and, on the other hand, the organizers did not limit the participants in their choice of the topic, so the realization and interpretation of the present day became a spontaneous uniting element of the works of the exhibit. On the eve of the Day of Independence of Ukraine, over 30 artists from Kyiv, Kharkiv, Lviv, Dnipropetrovsk, Sloviansk, and the Crimea presented nearly 100 paintings that either interpret the reality, or create their own artistic world.

The art project MARTS has become for the fifth time a platform for translation of contemporary Ukrainian painting. “The main criterion for selection of the works was how the artists feel what is going on these days, their possibility to prompt the audience to a dialog, not just create works that can aesthetically satisfy a visitor,” said Yulia Heiko, the organizer of the exhibit.

The works on display are very different, ranging from the realistic manner of execution to trans-avant-garde, but they are united by emotional, well-aware and open reaction to the challenges of the present day.

Such reflections are traced in the works of Dnipropetrovsk artist Svitlana Markitanova. Involvement of biblical motives, epigraphs from the New Testament on the canvases is a way of more accurate, expressive, and sophisticated recreation of the impressions from the war in Ukraine.

The series of Maryna Hromenko’s pictures “Sumotori” with the concept of eastern fighters as defenders of the light was associated with present-day Ukrainian “warriors of light,” in the series “Home-Woven Canvas” by Tetiana Rusetska fragments of traditional Ukrainian fabrics in ornamental manner weave the new images of Ukrainian space, and the Crimean landscapes by Aliona Yaroshenko, an artist from Sloviansk, evoke meditatively calm feeling of admiration and recollections about the peaceful peninsula.

Kyiv artist Yaroslav Vlasiuk’s works draw a special attention. The metaphorical images bemused all of the visitors of the exhibit. The artist said that several years ago he created presentiment works of the current state of affairs in Ukraine, and now the pieces of the puzzle have been put together, and an understanding dawned on him that he should finish the cycle of these works.

The works of Georgian David Sharashidze distinguish themselves among the works of modern Ukrainian artists. The artist emphasized that youth is the avant-garde of any society, the source of impulses that will become a driving force in the near future; therefore it is important to take into consideration the way the creative youth responds to the present-day events in Ukraine.

Lvivite Liubov Senchuk presented her response to the events for the audience as well. Her series of canvases “Between Two Worlds” shows the fine line between the folkways and spiritual life of a person. “Disturbing or peaceful events always inspire in their own ways,” said Liubov Senchuk. “But for an artist, especially now, it is very important to stay calm. This topic has become a result for me of what is going on these days. It is hard to create, it is even hard to live; therefore I want everyone to keep their inner balance.”

The art project MARTS UNFRAMED 2014 became a challenge for present-day audience, an attempt to show different views and concepts on the dynamics of life these days.