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- Nature morte – mixed media
Vitalii Kravets
The concept of resilience came into psychology from physics — the ability of elastic bodies to regain their shape after mechanical pressure. But shouldn’t we also consider another similarity between psychology and physics, namely the law of conservation of energy, where energy neither arises from nothing nor disappears, but can only be transformed from one form into another?
The inherently humanistic and empathetic Ukrainian people, with the onset of the great war, have experienced tectonic shifts and, in some cases, metamorphoses in their attitudes towards certain things. The availability of war footage has allowed civilians to confront the most horrifying aspects while filtering out the undesirable. Civilians now massively consume content depicting mutilated, dead enemies. However, unfortunately, war brings death not only to our enemies but also to our defenders.
Is the enemy’s death a manifestation of justice and, consequently, a cause for relief? Absolutely! Without cruelty, it is impossible not only to win the war but even to survive it. A deadly battle has been unleashed against us, where only the enemy’s death ensures our survival. Thus, we are left with a rather strange life-affirming emotion that arises as a reaction to death.
Does the enemy’s death mark their subjectification, or the opposite? This is one of many questions raised in this work.
The works “Nature morte – mixed media” were made from forms taken by the Defense Forces from Russian soldiers during the liberation of the Kherson region in 2022.
Born in 1988 in Lviv. Lives and works in Kyiv, Ukraine.
In 2006, graduated from the Taras Shevchenko State Art School.
In 2010, graduated from the National Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture (NAOAA) in Kyiv, Ukraine.
Vitaliy works in the fields of painting and graphics, as well as in interdisciplinary cultural areas. The artist has created a number of well-known art series, illustrations for books, and decorations for performances and exhibitions.
Kravets’s works are held in private collections in Ukraine, the United Kingdom, France, the USA, Canada, Cyprus, Turkey, Austria, Germany, and Japan.
His project “Anatomy of the Invertebrates” was nominated for the Taras Shevchenko Prize in 2022 and was the first artistic response to the full-scale invasion.
Personal Exhibitions
2023 – “Landscape” – personal exhibition at the Tourism Information Center in Zaporizhzhia.
2022 – “Anatomy of the Invertebrates” – personal exhibition at the “Dukat” gallery, Kyiv, Ukraine.
2020 – “Diana and the Roosters” – personal exhibition at the “Dukat” gallery, Kyiv, Ukraine.
2019 – Personal painting exhibition at the “Suzirya” theater.
2017 – “Gorilla’s Reggit” – personal exhibition of painting and graphics, “Educatorium” gallery, Kyiv, Ukraine.
2016 – “Hugs” – personal exhibition of graphics, French Institute, Kyiv, Ukraine.
2015 – “Kravets’s Stroke” – personal painting exhibition, “Bunkermuz”, Ternopil, Ukraine.
2013 – “Angels” – personal exhibition on the birthday of Venedikt Yerofeyev, “Bacteria” gallery, Kyiv, Ukraine.
2013 – “Before Us” – personal exhibition, “Bacteria” gallery, Kyiv, Ukraine.
Selected Group Exhibitions
2023 – “Art On The Baâlefront”, Künstlerhaus, Vienna, Austria.
2022 – “Italian and Ukrainian Contemporary Graphics in Dialogue”, Casa della Memoria, Milan, Italy.
2019 – Exhibition at the “Exodus” art residency, Museum of Contemporary Art, Kyiv, Ukraine.
2019 – Exhibition during the “Exodus” art residency, Montenegro.
2018 – Joint graphics exhibition “Contemporary Ukrainian Graphics”, Chicago, USA.
2014 – Exhibition at the Ukrainian Cultural Center, Paris, France.
2014 – Residents’ exhibition “I-O”, Izmit, Turkey.
2013 – Exhibition “Ukrainian Aggression”, Kyiv, Ukraine.
2013 – “50 Most Interesting Artists of Western Ukraine”, Lviv, Ukraine.
Other Projects
2023 – Set designer and costume designer for the play “Kaidash’s Family,” Ivan Franko National Academic Drama Theater, Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine.
2014-2016 – Art director of the “Bacteria” gallery at the Artistic Barbican.
2013 – Performance, directing as part of “DBKLDN”, GogolFest, Kyiv, Ukraine.
2011-2012 – Set designer in the stop-motion animation studio “Novator-Film”.
2011 – Set designer for the play “The Old Man with Wings,” directed by Dmytro Honcharenko.
2011 – Set designer for the film “Mermaid,” directed by Serhiy Iliashенко.
2010 – Set designer for the film “Sorcerer Ihnat and the People,” directed by Serhiy Iliashеnko
