March 21, 2015

Contemporary sacred art from Ukraine on exhibit at UIA

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Petro Humenyuk’s “St. Nicholas” (2014).

NEW YORK – The Ukrainian Institute of America is the venue for a group exhibition of 18 artists from Ukraine, “Iconart: Visions of a World Unseen” from March 20 through April 12. Organized in cooperation with Iconart Gallery of Contemporary Sacred Art, located in Lviv, the exhibition draws from the work of Ukrainian artists associated with the gallery. Independently working in different media, the artists focus on spiritual and religious concerns within the contemporary cultural context in which they live.

The artworks – both representational and abstract – visualize ties between rituals of medieval religious iconography and current interpretations of the sacred. This special group of artists is brought together through shared origins in Ukrainian spiritual culture and their respective intimate experiences. Their works are centered on the creation of images of the “world unseen”: a sinner in search of paradise, man in search of God, heroes and seducers, saints and traitors, and God in search of man.

Lyuba Yatskiv’s “Do Not Lament Me, O Mother” (2011).

Lyuba Yatskiv’s “Do Not Lament Me, O Mother” (2011).

Most of the artists are exhibiting for the first time in the United States. Spanning multiple generations, some commenced their creative practices 40 years ago, working outside of official (Soviet) mandates, while others entered the Ukrainian art arena in recent decades, influenced by contemporary culture and recent political events.

Exhibiting artists include: Olexander Antoniuk, Olexander Bryndikov, Ivanka Demchuk, Oleh Denysenko, Petro Humenyuk, Olga Kovtun, Olga Kravchenko, Ivanka Krypyakevych-Dymyd, Olexander Kudryavchenko, Ostap Lozynsky, Mykola Molchan, Danylo Movchan, Uliana Nyshchuk-Borysyak, Natalia Rusetska, Yuriy Smolsky, Yaroslava Tkachuk, Luba Yatskiv and Roman Zilinko.

Ivanka Krypyakevych-Dymyd’s “Descent from the Cross” (2013).

Ivanka Krypyakevych-Dymyd’s “Descent from the Cross” (2013).

The Ukrainian Institute of America Inc. is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting the art, music and literature of Ukraine and the Ukrainian diaspora, is permanently housed in the Fletcher-Sinclair mansion at 2 E. 79th St. at Fifth Avenue. The building is designated as a National Historic Landmark and protected as a contributing element of the New York Metropolitan Museum Historic District.

The Iconart Gallery, established in 2009, is the only gallery of contemporary sacred art in Ukraine that focuses primarily on the spiritual, religious dimensions of contemporary art. Since its opening in 2010 the gallery has organized more than 60 exhibitions and events that were dedicated to the spiritual problems of modern Ukrainian culture.

Exhibit hours at the UIA are Tuesday-Sunday, noon-6 p.m., or by appointment.

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