FACES AND PLACES: Something to cheer about! (08/06/06)

FACES AND PLACES

by Myron B. Kuropas

Something to cheer about!

Ukrainians in Chicago, for a change, have something to cheer about. We need it.

The source of our enthusiasm is a touring exhibit at the prestigious Chicago Cultural Center titled, "Crossroads: Modernism in Ukraine, 1910-1930."

Billed as "the first major exhibition of early 20th century Ukrainian art in the United States," the exhibit includes over 70 works by 21 artists, gathered by Prof. Dmytro Horbachov and Nikita Lobanov-Rostovsky from private collections, the National Art Museum of Ukraine, the Theater Museum, the Museum of Folk Art of Ukraine and the Art Museum of Dnipropetrovsk.

The words "Ukraine," "modern" and "avant-garde" may not usually be found in the same sentence, but there you have it. Ukraine once had an avant garde, cutting edge art world that included more than just Alexander Archipenko and Alexander Gritchenko - artists with whom most of us are familiar. Like so much of Ukrainian culture, it was stifled by the Soviets.

I attended the opening of the exhibit and was awed by the range of artistic expression. The number of people attending also was impressive. In addition to Chicago's own Ukrainian "movers and shakers," there were hundreds of non-Ukrainian art lovers and the simply curious.

I'm not an art critic, nor do I particularly like modern art, but I must tell you, I felt at home. I was drawn to the works on display. As I gazed at each of the art pieces, I tried to imagine what it was that motivated the artist, what message was he/she trying to convey, and, of course, how the artist ended his/her days.

My favorite piece was "Love" by Fedir Krychevsky (1879-1947), an artist who traveled and exhibited throughout Western Europe, and was a professor at the Kyiv and Kharkiv art museums during the 1930s. Interestingly, he was once a member of a body-building group and nudist colony in Poltava - not the sort of thing one usually associates with Poltava.

I was especially struck by how well the exhibit was organized and displayed. Much of the credit goes to Marta Farion, indefatigable president of the Chicago-Kyiv Sister Cities Program, who graciously thanked all of the institutions and individuals involved, especially the Foundation for the Arts and Education in Washington; Anatolii Melnyk, director of the National Art Museum of Ukraine; and Prof. John Bowlt, editor of the exhibition catalogue, which is a work of art in itself.

All of the financing for the exhibit came from local sources. The Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs provided much of the funding, as did a group of successful Fourth Wave business entrepreneurs, their contribution is a hopeful sign. Other substantial donors included Selfreliance, Pevnist Heritage Foundation and the Hyatt Corporation.

Adding to our joy in Chicago were the amazingly positive reviews. I especially liked what Kevin Nance of the Chicago Sun-Times wrote so lovingly on July 27. "Mention Ukrainian art and your mind leaps first to Easter eggs What might not occur to many Americans - for reasons having to do with the country's reluctant mingling with Russia and later, the Soviet Union - is Ukraine's contribution to modern art movements that percolated throughout Europe and the United States in the early 20th century." Kyiv, wrote Mr. Nance, was "one of the most fertile hotbeds of European modernism along with St. Petersburg and Paris."

"A casual walkthrough of the exhibitcan tend to leave you with the impression of a polyglot, aggressively cosmopolitan art that lacked discernible national characteristics," continued Mr. Nance. "Those trendy Ukrainians! They dipped their brushes into virtually every paint can of the avant-garde, from Cubism to Futurism to (belatedly) Art Nouveau and (early on) Constructivism A closer look, though, takes you back to those Easter eggs, or rather to their connection with classical, Byzantine and ecclesiastical sources. There's a distinctly Ukrainian lushness that adheres to even the most severe compositions here "

How perceptive!

The exhibit will be in Chicago through October 15 with a series of additional events scheduled. Admission is free. Ukrainians who live in Indiana and Wisconsin have no excuse not to come and look. Ukrainians who live in Detroit and Cleveland could drive up for a weekend and share the joy we Chicagoans feel. Even Philadelphia is not that far away. Ulana Mazurkevich made it, so can you.

Myron Kuropas's e-mail address is kuropas@comcast.net.

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