Once a year, a significant event for artists takes place in my city. This event is called “Magic Colors of Dnipro” and has the status of an all-Ukrainian exhibition. What does this mean, and why is the exhibition significant?
All artists who pass the professional commission will be allowed to participate in the exhibition. By a certain date, artists deliver paintings of their choice to the gallery of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine in accordance with the declared theme. They fill out an application for participation in the exhibition, where they indicate their contact information, year of birth, phone number, and a list of paintings with mandatory data about the paintings. Such data includes the author (artist), title of the painting, year of creation, size, and technique (oil on canvas or other).
The paintings will be placed on the floor along the walls of the exhibition space and the application on top. During the commission, it is impossible to know who exactly is the author of the painting, and therefore the commission is considered impartial to the artists. Considering the paintings or a series of paintings, the commission makes a decision on each one personally. In case of a positive decision, the secretary of the commission takes the application and enters the data into the list of “lucky” ones who have passed the commission to participate in the exhibition.
I took photos for you so that you could have a personal impression.
Every year it ends in the same way: joyful lucky ones or disappointed and stressed out ones. The vast majority of artists are so stressed out by this situation that they prefer not to be present when the commission reviews their paintings. At this time, they walk nearby on the embankment just to survive this stress and learn about the results in a few hours.
It seems to me that this kind of selection in artistic circles exists only in countries that were part of the USSR.
At the same time, any official regional organizations of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine in other regions can hold such events. Therefore, all-Ukrainian exhibitions are scheduled throughout the year, including biennials and triennials. During the year, a talented artist can take part in up to ten exhibitions of this status, provided that his or her creative achievements are approved by a professional commission.
In previous years, I was excited about such events and felt the adrenaline on a par with the winning athlete.
In recent years, I have tried to participate everywhere and have been lucky. I was surprised by the tears of those who were not accepted or the excessive joy of those who were. Because this is a joint exhibition where a large number of paintings are exhibited. I have never asked about the number, but I can assume that it is 250 or more. So each painting is a pearl that is difficult to find and highlight for the viewer. And this is important for every artist – to have their work noticed, to appreciate their style and personal handwriting.
From time to time, I keep a list of exhibitions at art events in which I have participated, and there are more than 100 of them.
The most interesting for me are personal exhibitions. Because it’s like a report for a period of life. Reflections and impressions change, topics of study and deepening change, skills and methods change. Experiments with materials appear. And this is more interesting because it allows the viewer to conditionally “put on the artist’s shoes and walk his or her path of life” in a particular period. To understand what excited or pleased him, what he regretted or experienced tragic circumstances. How did the artist overcome the crisis in himself or what wings of fortune carried him?
So with this in mind, in recent years I have been creating personal exhibitions to introduce my work to the locals before sending the paintings to other countries or handing them over to my art curator.
So, during the same period, a few days apart, I also opened a solo exhibition called “Life without Melancholy”. You can see how it happened in part 2 of the story.
In the first photo, I posted a photo of my painting, which was positively reviewed by the professional commission and is participating in the exhibition. Those who view my articles have probably already seen photos and descriptions of how I went to plein airs in the spring of 2023. The winter without light had just ended (because I live and work in Ukraine) when it was too cold and hungry in the frontline zone. So my friend and I went to the suburbs to warm up in the sun and switch our thoughts from what was happening as in a horrible fiction.
It’s been a long time since the war started, and I still can’t believe that such a thing is possible. It is hard to believe that this is not a dream and that it is not possible to fall asleep in another peaceful world.
for those who haven’t read my past articles: you can go by clicking on the author’s profile and view them.
How I prepared the exposition of my personal exhibition “Life without Melancholy”
Continuation of stories about exhibitions during this period.
Local posters and Ukrainian publications covered the opening of this exhibition as follows (and I quote):
…”This exhibition is a conscious effort no matter what. It is an example of how each of us works hard to create the future: “For who else but us?”
The artist recalls the time when her hometown was deserted. In the central part, all the residents seemed to have left, and the first floors of the buildings were boarded up with protective shields. It was amazing how quickly the city changed. These changes were inside and outside of every person. Everyone lived without knowing what to expect from the next day and night (especially at night) – they lived one day at a time.
Over time, the emptiness of the frontline city was filled with refugees, IDPs, foundations, NGOs, and shops. With a new unknown force, the crowd flooded the streets. This violent current carried away everyone who gave in.
The artist’s thoughts and reflections changed, influenced by what was happening in society. She seems to have gone through all the known phases; fear and misunderstanding of what is next, the struggle for the right to create during the war, the reflection of the experience, the continuation of creative searches and painting with a lantern, spring plein airs, summer heat and the continuation of creating her world. In each phase, she created separate collections that she showed to the audience during exhibitions in different cities: Dnipro, Lviv, Warsaw. This time, the artist has to open a conditional door to another dimension and show that the locals are interested in a space where they can relax mentally because everything else in their lives has already happened and every Ukrainian is persistently overcoming their own path.
About the author of the exhibition: Artist Oleksandra Malyshko was born in Dnipro, Ukraine. She is an architect by education, a member of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine. Works in the technique of linear divisionalism.
She has participated in about a hundred art events and exhibitions. An outstanding event in her artistic life was the opportunity to participate in the 58th Venice Biennale “For you to live in interesting times”, a participant in the project “Falling Shadow of “Mriya” on the Giardini Gardens” of the Ukrainian pavilion.
She participated in charity projects and donated part of her collection of paintings to various budgetary institutions in the region. At the same time, her paintings are collected in different countries of the world.
During the exhibitions, there is a good tradition to first show her paintings to the “native” viewer, and only then send them on a journey to exhibitions and collections in other countries.”….
It is strange that the article about the exhibition was posted not in the “Culture” or “Events” section, but in the “News of Ukraine” section. After that, my sister started joking with me that I was now recorded in the history of the country during this period.
The strange gallery house in the city center is located in the most dangerous place. So every time I’m nervous about whether my event is safe or whether it’s worth creating it in this location and at this time. In the same area, a multi-storey residential building was destroyed by a rocket, and even further away is an old bazaar with office buildings and small shop buildings. They are without windows and roofs, and partially missing walls for the same reasons. I don’t know why this happened and why the missiles are targeting this particular area.
Last spring, when I opened my exhibition with winter paintings, I was very afraid for the safety of the audience. I couldn’t invite anyone. I realized it was a big risk. But the city was living its own life, people were going to work during the day, and at night the worst was happening. Sometimes we were bombed after 1 a.m. Later, this schedule changed to 3 and 4 a.m.
I remember how in the corridor of the apartment, where there were picture stretchers along the walls, we would lay all the blankets we had on the floor and sleep with my daughter wearing all the warmest clothes we had. Some people said that their children sleep in the bathroom. I don’t mean the bathroom itself, but the bathtub. But the audience still came. They came during the whole period of the exhibition.
There is so much I want to tell you, but I don’t want to translate this horror and responsibility. So I will tell you about the exhibition itself.
The paintings presented in the exhibition are quite fresh. The period of summer 2023 was calmer. It was warm, sunny, and sometimes I managed to go to art plein airs near the city.
So a collection of more positive paintings was created. I was thinking about the title and there were several options. But they were all too “sweet” and “gentle”. And it’s hard to think of a collection of paintings with flowers as a different semantic symbol. The answer came from the last painting I created with sunflowers. “Life without melancholy”. What was the last of your paintings, you may ask.
I painted sunflowers and the idea was to create a visual image of people who are around me, whom I don’t know – ordinary people. They live, work, study, heal, bake bread, drive buses, clean the streets, create, protect, manage, run businesses. That’s probably who we are, and you are too.
These sunflowers are painted in a composite way to resemble a burning torch or a cross. Some people think that the bouquet of sunflowers rotates around its axis and creates a vortex. This is a very powerful painting. You can reflect on something personal while looking at it. When I was working on it, I played different music to create a creative atmosphere of calm, one of the backgrounds was Sting, and then there were songs about a free people.
What happened and your impressions can be written below this text.
As for the opening of the exhibition, it was a great start. New viewers of all ages came, and it’s nice to see teenagers and young people. It surprises me a bit, but I’m always happy.
It was a nice holiday, and these days they also celebrated the day of the city where I live. People smiled and talked despite the fact that they hadn’t met before. So I think the name did its job.
Before creating this collection of paintings, I asked myself the question whether these paintings would be timely, because there is only grief around. During this period, artists record what is happening to us, and these paintings are too scary and disturbing. Maybe we need a calm and positive theme, or maybe I need it to switch emotionally.
I made two articles about dvf, separate independent exhibitions that took place with my participation. You can see the faces of the viewers and participants. How are we going to get out of the psychological state we are in if there is no reason to be happy?
I once heard a wise man say that he saw his last moments of life in meditation. What were those moments? The answer outraged me a bit. Now I understand everything. He saw himself trying to cheer up people who were going to die.
Our situation seems to me better than his. But no one can guarantee it.
Please write below what topic you would like to hear more about from me? What should I talk about next time?
