Boychukism. The Great Style Project.
Our mission was to show the Boychukists’ workshop atmosphere.
To tell the story of rebellions, that reformed Ukrainian art, to reflect
on the lost heritage and repressed artists behind it.
➢ 2017
We tried to collect a puzzle from these surviving fragments that would give a comprehensive
picture of the Ukrainian monumentalism as an artistic direction that reflected the essence of its epoch.
At the ruins of the empires, young political nations appeared, which vigorously started to develop
new countries and their own culture.
The color palette of the exhibition was inspired by the original color shades of Boychukists' artworks.
The idea of the workshop and collective creation spirit instead of an individual one, returning to historical heritage instead of its negation, condensation of an art form instead of realistic reproduction. When speaking about Boychukists — huge formats and canvas stretcher frames come to mind, so we used wooden frames and constructures as the primary material for exhibition stands.
Some artworks were painted from both sides of canvas or wooden boards,
so we found a solution for exhibiting them too.
The monumental works of the Boychukists were destroyed following their authors.
Only sketches or chamber works have survived from the heritage of their
projected ‘Great Style’ until now. Behind them — some personal courage: museum workers
who ignored the directives on the destruction of ideologically hostile works; students
of Mykhailo Boychuk, who, turning into ‘socialist realists,’ hid their early work; collectors
who understood the value of prohibited art.
The monumental works of Boychukists were destroyed following their authors.
Survived murals are half-ruined and their future preservance is a question.
In a final video installation, we showed how these monumental pieces could look
now because only glass photo negatives remain of them.
This exhibition was highly praised by our audience. It was attended by more than 17 thousand visitors.
All photos by Maxym Bilousov
Project of Mystetskyi Arsenal
Curatorial Group: Olga Melnyk, Victoria Velychko, Igor Oksametnyi (Mystetskyi Arsenal)
Scientific consultants: Serhiy Bilokin, Yaroslav Kravchenko, Lyudmila Sokolyuk
Exhibition Design: Lera Guievska (Mystetskyi Arsenal)
