Packing Gentle
An exhibition of works from OLEH LYFORENKO, MARIA SHULHA, & OLEKSII ZHUKOV
Opening 19:00, Friday 2/12/22 – till 18/1/23 Galeria Insurgent c/ d’Ernest Anastasio 37, Valencia
Friday, opening 19.00 – 23.00
Sat/ Solar 12.00 – 21.00
See @rebelcabanyal for additional opening instances, or by request.
An extended weekend, a winter escape, a birthday celebration.
You don’t wish to double the value of your flight so that you stuff the necessities in a small backpack.
It’s going to be heat; you don’t want a lot.
After which a conflict breaks out.
This was the start of the story for these three Ukrainian artists travelling to Valencia, Spain, in February 2022.
Three Ukrainian Academy artists break from custom to discover concepts of residence, nationality, and id on this deeply private exhibition.
Within the exhibition Packing Gentle at galeria Reb/el cabanyal; Oleh, Maria, and Oleksii, three artists and refugees from the battle
in Ukraine, are exploring the lack of their homeland, reflecting on the tales of horror and destruction from the locations they performed as children- the place their households and associates stay, and their relationship with their new environment. How even nice magnificence can turn out to be distorted when it’s enforced, how generosity may be suffocating when it’s indispensable, and the way their ardour for artwork, for creating, documenting, and for expression, has helped them to outlive, evolve and develop, artistically and
personally.
From the artists:
We’re Oleksii, Oleh, Maria and Diana (who sadly doesn’t take part within the exhibition with us), artists from Ukraine who turned out to be pressured refugees from the conflict who’ve needed to merge into a brand new, unfamiliar surroundings for us.
We got here to Spain to have fun Maria’s birthday on February 24 with one backpack for every. Regardless of the alarming information tales, we didn’t consider that the conflict would start. We deliberate to fly residence early on the morning of February twenty sixth however the conflict made changes to our plans and we have been pressured to remain right here. I feel we have been very fortunate as a result of our mother and father stayed on this hell. Maria is from Mariupol and her mother and father are nonetheless there. However happily, regardless of the scenario, all our mother and father are superb.
Mariupol was nearly wiped off the face of the earth. Kharkiv is bombarded with rockets nearly every single day. And lots of different cities are subjected to each day terror. Regularly we started to get used to our scenario and begin doing our primary enterprise – we purchased supplies, began doing work. Slowly we started to build up supplies and due to our acquaintance with the proprietor of the Reb/el gallery, Terry, and his assist, we determined to carry this exhibition.
The primary targets of the exhibition are to inform our story- about how our scenario developed and we needed to get used to a brand new and unfamiliar surroundings for us, and acquaint the viewers with Ukrainian artwork, our symbols, and our tradition.
Every of us has a sure fashion that isn’t related to one another, and due to this, there’s a enormous distinction between our artworks. For us this case turned out to be one thing new, uncommon for us, with which we nearly coped, and to which we tailored.
Maria
I’m Maria Shulga. Born in Ukraine, town of Mariupol. In
2018 I entered the Kharkiv State Academy of Design and Positive
Arts (2018-2022) and earned a level in Restoration and
examination of artworks. Since childhood, I cherished to attract
and needed to attach my life with artwork. I selected the School of
Restoration, as a result of it’s there that I can examine the artwork of the
previous and current, not solely from books, but additionally from private
expertise within the restoration of the artwork. Sadly, I needed to
end my research remotely, being out of the country, on account of
Russia’s army invasion of Ukraine. I’ve participated in
exhibitions in my native metropolis of Mariupol, in addition to in a
variety of worldwide and metropolis exhibitions within the Kharkiv
Home of Artists. My work are in non-public collections in
Ukraine and USA.
Oleg
My title is Oleg Lyforenko, I used to be born and lived in Ukraine, however
because the starting of the conflict I needed to keep right here, within the Valencia
area. I’m engaged in portray. I’m a muralist by schooling.
All of the works exhibited right here have been made throughout these months
that we’re right here. The offered works are executed in several
methods. I works in an expressive method, within the path of
transavantgarde. Lots of my works are merchandise of inventive
improvisation. I wish to compose tales with a share of absurdity
and irony, rework characters, designate them as separate
fragments, however on the similar time go away them anthropomorphic.
Because of lack of supplies a few of the work was performed on
cardboard that I discovered on the streets, painted with constructing paint.
It was fascinating, I feel the easier the fabric, the extra
creativity. On this regard I don’t take into consideration educational outcomes. It
was essential for me to research the composition throughout the
course of, I do do a lot of the works with out sketches, I do what’s
fascinating to me in the meanwhile of drawing. I embody in my artwork
postulates that are characterised by postmodernism:
deconstruction, citation, borrowing of supplies and concepts of
artwork up to date.
In these methods I attempt to obtain the results of creating new moral
and aesthetic norms.
Oleksii
I’m Oleksii Zhukov. I used to be born in Ukraine, within the metropolis of
Kharkiv in 1999. In 2014 I entered the Kharkiv Artwork School
(2014-2018). I studied to be an artist-teacher. In 2018, I
entered the Kharkiv State Academy of Design and Positive Arts
(2018-2021) majoring in monumental artist (road artwork).
Earlier than the conflict, my associates and I went on a brief journey to Spain
for 4 days to have fun Maria’s birthday.
Opposite to our expectations, simply on her birthday, we have been
caught by the conflict in Ukraine. On this regard, we have been pressured
to conduct our inventive actions from Spain. It took me, like
the remainder of the fellows, time to get used to a overseas
surroundings and return in some way to the inventive degree at
which I used to be earlier than the conflict.
Throughout these months, I rethought rather a lot and my fashion, in my
opinion, acquired a sure imprint of this case in a
optimistic sense – I started to work extra productively and
experiment. Our scenario influenced this. I primarily deal with
illustrations and landscapes. I really like to color landscapes, however I
additionally get pleasure from doing ornamental nonetheless lifes. For many concepts, I exploit
bottles. Almost certainly, I used to be impressed by the nonetheless lifes of Giorgio
Morandi again in 2018 and rethought it in my very own approach. I
began making the primary nonetheless lifes on this topic on the
starting of 2021.
My work are in non-public collections within the USA, China,
Germany, Nice Britain, Switzerland, Poland, Spain and
Ukraine.
Reb/el is a gallery, arts house, inventive and neighborhood hub in El Cabanyal, Valencia.
It’s an open and inclusive house for the neighborhood to discover world class cultural and creative works and
concepts. Our doorways are open to all backgrounds and ages. The house, supplies and inventive expertise we now have
can be found to anybody wanting to hitch us and create one thing for the neighborhood.
We’re a inventive collective of visible, musical, and efficiency artists with a broad vary of
competencies together with: Structure, manufacturing, design, educating and languages in addition to the inventive
arts.
We intention to include our passions to create immersive experiences, to increase our neighborhood, and
discover avenues of collaboration.
With our easy coverage of openness and inclusivity we hope to draw as broad a variety of individuals as
potential to share concepts, strategies, influences and experiences- and set up new ones.
