ART MUSEUM

On February 9, 2018, the solemn opening of 50 shades of light art works exhibition was held by Andrii Vasylovych Khvorost, Сhairman of the Kirovohrad Oblast Organization of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine, the winner of the Oleksandr Osmorkin Oblast Award in the field of fine arts and art studies in the nomination  Modern Directions .

Andrii Khvorost belongs to the unique cohort of brush masters, who were born in other oblasts of Ukraine (in our case, this city of Vilnohirsk of the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast) became, with time, an integral and very important part of the artistic Steppe Hellas, duly presenting it around the world. The creative individuality and versatility, diligence and persistence of the artist became the key to the creative finds and achievements that brought him his well-deserved recognition.

It is very important that Andrii was also the successor of family traditions, forcing to recollect old-fashioned notion as family dynasty, as his father, Vasyl Ivanovych Khvorost, was a well-known artist, a member of the National Union Journalists (1975) and the National Union of artists of Ukraine (1980), the laureate of all-Ukrainian Taras Shevchenko Charitable Scientific and Cultural Foundation, and Director of the Dnipropetrovsk Ye. Vuchetych Art College,
which discovered such famous artists as Yurii Honcharenko, Andrii Nadezhdin, and the hero of the day, who graduated from this institution in 1989.

The next stage of professional development and artistic improvement was the study at the Ukrainian Academy of Printing (Lviv), after which (1995) Andrii Khvorost worked in the field of book graphics, printing, design and painting, being a regular participant in numerous exhibitions, among which, in particular, was all-Ukrainian exhibition projects - Artist and Book  (1991, Kyiv), Eternal Cossacks (1992, the city of Kyiv), Pan-Ukrainian triennial of painting (2001, Dnipropetrovsk), art exhibition The picturesque Ukraine  (2007, the city of Ternopil) and international exhibitions - the exhibition of the exlibris  Theatreandlife  (1993, Vilnius, Lithuania), the contest of the book symbol Religions are varied, God is the only one (1994, Kyiv), the exhibition of the XXI century exlibris (1996, Paris, France), Library Excellency Competition of the National University of Krakow (1996, Poland),  50 Years Since Warsaw Uprising  (1996, Warsaw).

Artist's experience in publishing houses  SoldePrint , Polygraphist Services, Diagram, Fakir was also fruitful. He is the author of the design of numerous advertising and tourist booklets of our city, the books by the famous local ethnographer Yurii Mativos - City over Gray Inhul and Pages of Immortality, local history essay Kirovohrad During the Great Patriotic War (2005).

It is nice to know, that such a rich creative life both made Andrii Khvorost popular in artistic circles and increased the number of admirers of his work, but also brought the artist the well-deserved official recognition. In 2000, the artist became a member of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine, in 2009 he was presented on the city board of honor in the nomination  Best designer of the year , in 2015 Andrii Vasylovych became the Chairman of Kirovograd Oblast Organization of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine and became the winner of the Oleksandr Osmorkin Oblast Award in the field of fine arts and art studies in the nomination  Modern Directions .

The latter is very symbolic and logical, since specialists characterize the art works of Andrii Khvorost as the nonconformism of the new wave, in which the language elements of book graphics and graphic design are clearly visible. On the basis of those who had not lost the ability of figurative thinking and philosophical analysis, the artist created a special world of his own images, through which he communicates with the viewers, forcing them to find their secret essence, hints of the present, provoking for reflection, fantasy, carrying out certain parallels, associations, etc. This dialogue becomes more productive due to the artist's ironic view of the consumer ideology of a modern degrading society, whose negative traits appear through certain images.

The great example is the  Fish Day  series of works, in which simultaneously there are several variants of fish - living, dead, elegant, simple and glamorous, which is a rigid caricature of society, which loves vain conversations about preserving the living environment, accepting its consumption. Other artistic series by Andrii Khvorost,  Tree and Flowers ,  City , compositions  New Generation ,  Golden Tree , also represent peculiar metamorphoses on the theme of modern glamor and subculture, which drag us into a chasm of sin. Recent art works -  Behind the Glass ,  East Wind , Fragile Minute of Peace, When Dew is Still on Grass - are sharp, reflecting the new television and communicative consciousness formed by the era of new technologies.

The aim of the artist's brush is also the constant existence in the systems of  life-drama , or  life-tragedy , generated by the information society, prone to hyperbolic tragedy.

The excellent opportunity for any artist to present his or her art works in large scale is the solo exhibition, but at the same time, it is a big responsibility, because the artist seems to be face to face with his large audience, which includes both fans and critics. In the creative asset of Andrii Khvorost, there were already three solo exhibitions - in Dnepropetrovsk (1998) and Kirovohrad (2000, 2013). In addition, here is another one, with the eloquent name - 50 Shades of Light. This exhibition is again opened in our city with the new Ukrainian name - Kropyvnytskyi, which corresponds to the status of the cradle of the Ukrainian professional theater and is a kind of artistic brand.

Presented at the Oblast Art Museum, the exhibition reflects not only the multifaceted talent of Andrei Khvorost, but also the artist's vision of the world in such works as Winter in Sedniv (1986), Mother (1986) and Sister (1986) in the series Family, Autumn  (1988),  Self-portrait  (1989),  The Way Through the Hell  series (1991), Don Steppe (1991),  The Model in Red Stockings  (1991),  Carpathian Morning   1992),  Poppies  (1992),  Supper  (1992),  Pumpkin Walk Around Backyard (1992),  Memoirs about the Crimea  (1993),  Butterflies  (1993),  Exlibris  (1993), Model (1994), Winter Evening (1994), Evening City (1994), Dacha in Pidholsko (1994), Carpathian Roads (1994), Man and Woman ( 1995),  Sunflowers  (1998),  The Sunset on the River Oril  (2002),  At Sea  (2008),  Sunset on Polonyna  (2010),  Evening at Dnipro (2010),  The Last Snow (2010), The Breath of Spring (2010), Bystra River (2010), February in Pirohovo (2010), Sun Flowers (2010), Winter Dream (2010), Solar Silence  (2010),  Vinca at the House  (2011), Movement to the Sun  (2012),  Where the Wind Dominates  (2012),  Under the Glass  (2013),  Flower Symphony  (2013) ,  Music of Plants  (2013), Dream City  (2013),  Color Hegemony (2013),  New Generation  (2013),  At Window  (2014),  Memories From Album  (2014),  Eastern Wind  (2014),  Red on White  (2014),   The Museum of Local History (2015),  Near the Fountain  (2016),  Evening Inhul  (2016),  Premonition of Thunderstorm(2016),  After the Thunderstorm  (2016),  Peace of Steppe  (2016),  Generation   (2017), The Museum of Local Lore (2017), The History of the Museum of Local History (2017), When Dew is Still on Grass (2017), Enchanted Spring (2017), August in City (2017), Golden Autumn in City (2017) ,  Wait, My Autumn  (2017),  Golden Gifts  (2017) and  Pumpkins  from the series  Generous Land , At Melon Field. Childhood Memories (2017),  Theater Square  (2017),  Old Town  (2017),  Evening Lanterns  , (2017),  Fog  (2017),  Sunlight  (2017),  Girlfriends    (2017),  Nastia  (2017), Waiting for Friend (2017),  Marko Lukych  (2017) from the series  Famous Fellow Countrymen  and others.       

During the opening ceremony, Andrii Vasylovych presented one of his paintings to Oblast Art Museum -  Vanca at the House  (2011), painted during en plein air in the village of Torhovytsia, to Kirovohrad Oblast Oncology Center -  Evening on the Dnieper  (2010) and to 3rd Independent Regiment of Special forces - When Dew is Still on Grass (2017), demonstrating an imitation worthy example.

OLEH YURCHENKO - HEAD OF THE
TOURISM, ETHNOGRAPHY AND INFORMATION DEPARTMENT