From August 2 to 14, the National Centre "Ukrainian House" in cooperation with the Stedley Art Foundation and the cultural centre "Dom Master Klass" will present the exhibition "Premonitions" by Oleksandr Dubovyk.
Oleksandr Dubovyk's paintings and graphics, collected in this space, like a pulsating nerve of time, reflects the zone of turbulence through which the whole world is passing through together with us, together with Ukraine. Each presented work is a harbinger of radical changes in the world order, our consciousness and our hearts. Dubovik, as a harbinger of these changes, gives us guidance in his works and warns of danger.
Works from different years, generally written during the past decades, culminate in the 2022 Phantoms graphic series. This is a special and important series for the artist, because it was actually created to the sound of sirens and the terrible sounds of explosions during these seemingly endless months of war. Each created phantom, born from the chaos of the modern world, appears before us as an ancestor, as a protector, and as our own reflection. Oleksandr Dubovyk never ran away or retreated from the principles of the truth, so even at this difficult moment he remained in Kyiv, his native city.
The word "courage" is often found in texts about cultural figures, writers and artists who were not afraid of the Soviet system and created real art in defiance of it, not conveyor belt pastorals of Soviet life. Oleksandr Dubovyk was one of such daredevils and apostates from socialist realism. He breaks with its canons and creates works according to the laws and logic that he developed himself, relying on numerous theoretical works of artists of the past, philosophical and historical treatises.It was during his forced exile within the art system that the artist created a unique world of images and symbols, among which the most important ones are the bouquet, the phantom, and the triumphant. Alexander never belonged to any groups, he takes into his artistic arsenal only what seems important for his "inner necessity" and reconstructs it according to his own laws."Art is the hope for harmony. It is addressed to every person, to the sovereign personality, and therefore is fundamentally multi-meaning," writes Oleksandr DubovykFor almost a century, the artist has been exploring this world and discovering new ones. In his graphic and pictorial works, using new conceptual and plastic ideas, Dubovik manifests himself as an artist who belongs to the European artistic tradition, shares the same values and adheres to the concepts of honesty and respect to art itself.