The art of escape
Paintings of the Interesting Fairytales group started to appear on Kyiv’s walls several years ago. Theirs are huge, at times wall-size, frescoes featuring strange characters seemingly stiffened in sleep. They depict most unexpected combinations of objects, paradoxical situations, truly surrealistic and minutely detailed atmosphere in which the laws of gravity are defied and hallucinations are multidimensional. All this is executed in rich, bright graffiti colors, which, however, are in keeping with the rules of painting. Ukrainian street art has never had anything like this. The group members are Volodymyr Manzhos and Oleksii Bordusov. Oleksandr Tymchenko, the coordinator of the group’s projects, also took part in our conversation.
Do you remember your first mural?
Oleksii Bordusov: “My first drawings were in chalk, and it was very long ago. I did not even have access to paints at the time.”
Volodymyr Manzhos: “Once I found a car spray paint at home. I made some inscriptions to begin with, names of music performers. I don’t remember anything more than that.”
As far as I know, you began your activity within the Ingenious Kids Group. What kind of group was it?
V.M.: “Initially, this was not a group, just friends. We spent time together, drew sketches, and so on.”
A.B.: “But this, in the long run, had nothing in common with murals.”
V.M.: “This was simply vandalism. Now we are against this. But this is a normal stage of development of any graffiti artist. I was 19-20 years old at the time.”
You belong to the few Ukrainian street artists who create full-fledged murals. Why is this style underdeveloped in our country?
V.M.: “Not so much time has passed, and the graffiti scene in Ukraine has not taken proper shape.”
A.B.: “The street art scene, to be more precise. There is graffiti, and there is street art. Graffiti has more to do with letters.”
V.M.: “I meant graffiti in the sense of industry. In Moscow, everything is much better developed; more festivals take place there; artists paint more and more frequently; they earn more, and have opportunities to create large-scale works with a plot. Our artists are poorer.”
But Ukraine also has held some festivals with good results — they can be seen in Shuliavska or Soliana streets.
V.M.: “We have talented people. It seems to me that the main reason is that they lack the materials.”
So, they have technical difficulties?
V.M.: “Yes.”
A.B.: “The availability of legal walls for painting also plays an important role. We simply have nowhere to paint. Let’s say we have the materials at the moment, but we have no place to paint murals. But this refers not only to us; many others are in the same situation.”
Then let us switch to more pleasant things. As far as I know, you have caught the eye of foreign audiences, right?
A.B.: “We received an invitation to participate in a Spanish mural art festival. We painted part of the building. It was very interesting to interact with foreigners who are engaged in a same thing. There were people from Cuba, France, Italy, etc.”
Are there any differences?
A.B.: “They have more freedom. The attitude of the government is more loyal, unlike in Ukraine.”
Your fairytales are bright but not loud. A contemplative neutral mood predominates in your pictures.
A.B.: “Yes, our images are of static nature and they lack emotions — the same can be observed in icon painting. When the work is rich in emotions, its essence and symbolic nature are lost. Realism kills the essence and the idea.”
V.M.: “We painted in the Pavlov Hospital within the framework of an art therapy action. And the artist who conducts all this … told us, ‘The first thing that catches the eye is that usual graffiti is aggressive and shouts from the wall, whereas your works are unobtrusive and attractive.’”
A.B.: “They are interesting, because the viewer wants to learn more about their meaning, hence the Interesting Fairytales.”
What overall effect do you want to achieve by painting on the walls?
A.B.: “Look at the city. Ads are all over the place. Ads are everywhere. The city looks like a huge marketplace. We want to make works that are non-commercial, the kind of art that would influence a person in a straightforward and positive way, so it would be simple.”
V.M.: “Perhaps, simple like a cartoon.”
On your website you have published many works on canvas. Do you intend to display them in galleries?
A.B.: “We are planning to arrange an exhibit. I won’t say at the moment where and when. We have never had a solo exhibit. We have taken part in group opening days, but even this was very rare.”
What is freedom for you?
A.B.: “Freedom is an ability to control your own actions. This is the most important thing.”
V.M.: “Freedom is remaining your own self under any circumstances, being free from circumstances, conventions, limits, unnecessary duties and systems, and not depending on this world.”
