France, and Paris in particular, has over the years played the role of reference and muse for the Ukrainian artistic sphere. Names such as Sonia Delaunay, Casimir Malevich and Serge Lifar are included in our collective catalogue as talents that are part of the world history of art. The cultural dialogue they engendered in their work is unparalleled: the energy born in Ukraine, and its inspiration in forms, motifs and colours, found fertile ground in the City of Light, where it was nurtured by the cultural effervescence. Born between 1870 and 1919, the ten great Ukrainian masters featured in this exhibition have the characteristic of having lived or sojourned in France. They were, of course, all influenced by the Parisian artistic movements of the 20th century, and some of them played a leading role in them: this is the case, for example, of Youla Chapoval within the Ecole de Paris.

Thus, the seven current artists presented are part of this tradition, continuing to weave this intercultural link. Zoia Skoropadenko, a Ukrainian who has chosen France as her adopted country since the early 2000s, brings them together here in an inter-temporal as well as intercultural conversation. Covering a range of media from textile collage to ceramics, silkscreening, drawing and oil on canvas, these contemporary artists represent the current dynamics in Kiev, but are also evidence of the necessary stimuli from other world art capitals such as London, Berlin, New York, and of course Paris.

The curatorship, directed by Zoia Skoropadenko with the collaboration of Christina Chirouze Montenegro, seeks to revive names threatened by neglect and to reveal some of the creators of the current scene in a new and stimulating conversation.

 

Artists represented:

 

Grandmasters, in order of seniority:

Jean Peské, Vasyl Krychevsky, Anatole Pavil, Alexis Gritchenko, David Burliuk, Adolphe Feder, Sacha Zaliouk, Nikolas Poliakoff, Serge Lifar and Youla Chapoval

 

Contemporary artists, in alphabetical order:

Dale Dorosh, Olesya Dzhurayeva, Zoia Skoropadenko, Oxana Stratiychuk, Olexandra Sysa, Thetoothandtheroot collective and Matviy Vaisberg