CRIME IN PARADISE: the first personal exhibition in Ukraine of one of the best modern painters
05.10.2006 — 10.11.2006
Vashkevich Ruslan
In October, 15 (2006), 19:00 – the gallery “Collection” in partnership with the international automobile holding company Atlant–M, opened in Ukraine the first personal exhibition of a well-known Byelorussian painter, Ruslan Vashkevich. Last year, the Ukrainian house had the opportunity to watch several works of Vashkevich in the ironic and humorous performance “Balota Empire” held at the Soros centre of Modern Art.
Larica Mikhnevich, exhibition director of the Modern Art Museum in Minsk, said about Ruslan Vashkevich: “He is a striking, independent and a little bit impudent painter from Minsk, who is building a brilliant art career. The Kiev exhibition of Vashkevich represents “the works of different years”, but it has not kept the exhibition from being very integrated. Obviously, everything has been compared by that intricate image-bearing game, which is played by the painter in art.
Ruslan Vashkevich says about his art: “On exhibitions I use a picture as a traditional form to present non-traditional ideas. To call yourself a painter, you can’t suggest having a holiday or sick-leave. Art can not be comfortably placed somewhere on the edge of your conscience, it absorbs you entirely”.
Darina Zholdak, director of the gallery “Collection” says: “We have chosen exactly Ruslan Vashkevich for the second exhibition in our gallery, because we are sure in his success among Ukrainian connoisseurs of art. Ruslan is well-known in Europe, and his works are kept in many private collections, they have been successfully sold in the most prestigious auction house, Sotheby’s, and were presented in the structure of the official program of Venetian Biennale – 51. I am sure that the energy which overflows from his canvases - vivid emotions, denudation of feelings and depth in Ruslan’s works - should surely attract Ukrainians”.
Catalog is available.
Articles:
- …In creating the latest exhibition or project, I do not attempt to solve my problems at the expense of the audience. I do not want to frighten him with an expected solution. It is interesting for me to start a phrase, to put forth an algorithm and draw the viewer into the game… Each time I exhibit a principle of the creative mechanism of the work. The more complicated the task, the more original the solution. The most interesting and dramatic moments take place in unsolved tasks. The solution in this case may be especially pure and artistic. But a special quality and the significance of the moment is accentuated by unclear aims or the absence of intent. This frees me from false responsibility, and in the end free creation triumphs. It is not my job to teach people because I, myself, am still learning. An artist attains freedom through such experiences.
- Artist with the Long Journey, Larisa Mikhnevich…The start and development of this artist’s career somehow began outside the realm of standards and projects of official Prestigious scholarships and travel grants he received resulted in a most excellent road map of exhibitions typified by his recent participation in the official Belarusian project at the 51st Venetian biennial. He quickly ended his imitation and replication stage as a young man and is sure of himself and what he considers to be his “profession.” He is educated and capable, liberated from issues influences his profession and, most importantly, always is ready to learn new lessons. He never shrinks from the specific artistic cause of the day, having learned the futility of the non-reflexive ðrocess of producing works en masse and having come to grips with the realization that the existence of an artist in the modern world is all that matters…