Vasiliy Ryabchenko (born 23 July 1954, in Odesa, USSR) is a Ukrainian painter, photographer, and installation artist. One of the key artists in contemporary Ukrainian art, and the "New Ukrainian Wave".
Biography
Vasiliy Ryabchenko was born on 23 July 1954, in Odesa in the family of a Soviet graphic artist Sergey Ryabchenko.
His art education started in 1966 at the Odesa Art School located on the territory of the Odesa Art College. In 1969, he entered the painting department of the Odesa Art College which was named after M. B. Grekov.
In 1974 – 1976, he was auditing courses at the Leningrad Higher School of Art and Design named after Mukhina in Leningrad. After returning to Odesa, he acquainted and made friends with Valentin Khrushch and others who would be known as the Odesa "nonconformists".
From 1978 to 1983, Vasiliy Ryabchenko studied at the South Ukrainian State Pedagogical University named after K. D. Ushinsky at the art and graphics faculty, where his teachers were Valery Geghamyan and Zinaida Borisyuk.
Since 1987, he is a member of the Union of Artists of the USSR, later the National Union of Artists of Ukraine. During this period, a group of artists from Odesa appeared: Sergey Lykov, Elena Nekrasova, Oleksandr Rojtburd, Vasiliy Ryabchenko. Known as the "Odesa Group". In the late 1980s, this group, which was not very popular among "official" environment of the Union of Artists and wasn't connected with the unofficial environment – these new "nonconformist", held two major high-profile exhibitions "After Modernism 1" and "After Modernism 2" in the space of a state institution, the Odesa Art Museum. The themes, plots of works, and large-scale formats marked the beginning of a new direction in the fine arts of Odesa. This period included paintings from Vasiliy such as: "Coast of Unidentified Characters" (1989), "Red Room" (1988), "Victim" (1989), "Death of Actaeon" (1989), Diptych "Catchers" (1989), "Method of Temptation" (1990) and others.
In between the two above-mentioned exhibitions, an exhibition, "New Figurations", was held at the Odesa Literary Museum, in which, young artists from Kyiv were involved. This was the beginning of the integration of the "Odesa Group" into the context of the all-Ukrainian art movement that was a current trend at that time. Vasiliy Ryabchenko's works which were displayed at that exhibition were: "Rejection of Grace" (1988) and "Love – not Love" (1988).
Vasiliy Ryabchenko, was among the first who started working in the genre of installation, and his very first work in this direction was "Swings for Stumps", for a project "Steppes of Europe" at the Ujazdowski Castle (1993), curated by Jerzy Onukh. Later on, he created a great number of installations: "The Great Bambi" (1994), "Dedication to Madame Recamier" (1994), "Princess" (1996), "Academy of Cold" (1998), and others.
Since the early 1970s, the artist was constantly experimenting with photography. At first, the main subjects were non-staged, still lifes from everyday objects. He followed that by photo fixation of improvisations involving different objects and the human body. In which he used "emptiness" and asymmetry, which was characteristic of the Eastern tradition. He used this style for a series of photographs, which were put together in the project "Naked Dream" (1995). For this project Vasiliy Ryabchenko received an award along with the title of "Best Artist of Ukraine" according to the results of the first all-Ukrainian art festival "Golden Section" in 1996. In the same year he founded a creative association "Art Laboratory".
Work Vladimir Levashov identifies several periods in the work of Vasiliy Ryabchenko. The early works of the artist, dating back to the late 1970s – early 80s, are notable for a synthesis of "Western" and "Eastern" approaches to painting: an almost "English" aristocratic asceticism of the language, organically drifting towards the Chinese "dance of a brush", in other words restraint is balanced by freedom and lightness.
In the second half of the 1980s, Vasiliy Ryabchenko got interested in the ideas of the transavantgarde. Yet while in general, the Ukrainian transavantgarde gravitated toward the aesthetics of the baroque, Ryabchenko's works of this time can be described as "new rococo". The transavantgarde period of the artist is characterized by programmatic emptiness, well-balanced aestheticism, frivolous playfulness and mechanistic combinatorics. "Cats" is an example of the works of the second half of the 1980s, which is a story about two rival cats. In the next version, created when relations between the two superpowers were aggravated, which led to the collapse of the USSR, the plot changed its semantic context due to a change in size, color, painting style and the title – "Deterrence".
The "rococo line" can still be seen in Ryabchenko's subsequent works, right up to those created recently. However, they’ve become more emotional and slightly confusing, and a trace of irrationalism and anxiety appear in his paintings. Pastoral carelessness gradually gave way to reflection and growing drama.
Ukrainian art historian and art critic, Mikhail Rashkovetsky, said about Vasiliy Ryabchenko: “In his works Vasiliy Ryabchenko is a mediator of objective emptiness along the laws of beauty. Moreover, figurativeness does not diminish, but enhances this intention. To embody the vacuum, the artist multiplies the elegance of rocaille, the stylization of modernity and the luxury of the high-society baroque by the absolute deconstruction of mythological meanings.”
Exhibitions
2022 | Unfolding Landscapes / Kunst(Zeug)Haus, Rapperswil-Jona, Switzerland 2022 | Unfolding Landscapes / Art & History Museum, Brussels, Belgium 2022 | Unfolding Landscapes / Art Centre Silkeborg Bad, Silkeborg, Denmark 2020 | Strange Time / Art Laboratory (online) 2017 | Outcasts Salon / Naval Museum, Odesa, Ukraine 2017 | Cold Faith / Invogue Gallery, Odesa, Ukraine 2016 | The Spirit of Tme / Zenko Art Foundation, Tatarov, Ukraine 2016 | Recipe for Utopia / Modern Art Research Institute, Kyiv, Ukraine 2016 | Dashing 90th / The Museum of Odesa Modern Art, Odesa, Ukraine 2016 | Ergo sum. Self-portraits exhibition / Dukat Gallery, Kyiv, Ukraine 2016 | Three Generations of Ukrainian artists in the Tatyana and Boris Grinev Collection / Yermilov Centre, Kharkov, Ukraine 2015 | Enfant Terrible. Odesa conceptualism / National Art Museum of Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine 2015 | Museum Collection. Ukrainian Contemporary Art 1985–2015 / Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv, Ukraine 2014 | Ukrainian Landscape / Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv, Ukrainehttps://artarsenal.in.ua/en/ukrainian-landscape 2013 | Odesa School. Tradition and Currency / Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv, Ukraine 2012 | The Myth. Ukrainian Baroque / National Art Museum of Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine 2012 | Contemporary Ukrainian artists / Yermilov Centre, Kharkov, Ukraine 2011 | Independent / Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv, Ukrainehttps://artarsenal.in.ua/en/independent 2010 | TOP-10 Contemporary Artists of Odesa / Hudpromo Gallery, Odesa, Ukraine 2010 | Star Wars / Korobchinsky Art Centre, Odesa, Ukraine 2009 | Restart / Marine Art Terminal, Odesa, Ukraine 2009 | Ukrainian New Wave / National Art Museum of Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine 2008 | Odesa Contemporary Art / The Museum of Odesa Modern Art, Odesa, Ukraine 2008 | Exhibition dedicated to the 70th anniversary of National Artists Union of Ukraine / Central Artists House, Kyiv, Ukraine 2004 | Farewell to Arms / Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv, Ukraine 2003 | First Collection / Central Artists House, Kyiv, Ukraine 2000 | Partial Eclipse / French Cultural Center, Belgrade, Yugoslavia 2000 | Positive Reaction / Odesa Museum of Western and Eastern Art, Odesa, Ukraine 1999 | Pinakothek / Ukrainian House, Kyiv, Ukraine 1998 | Month of Photography / Bratislava, Slovakia 1998 | Out-of-Graphics / Odesa Art Museum, Odesa, Ukraine 1998 | Coldness Academy / Odesa Art Museum, Odesa, Ukraine 1998 | Sides / Karas Gallery, Kyiv, Ukraine 1998 | Two Days and Two Nights / Contemporary Music Festival, Odesa, Ukraine 1998 | All-Ukrainian Youth Exhibition / Central Artists House, Kyiv, Ukraine 1997 | Photosynthesis / Exhibitions directorate of the National Artists Union of Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine 1996 | Phantom Opera / Young Spectator Theater, Odesa, Ukraine 1996 | Jam Look / Contemporary Art Center, Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, Kyiv, Ukraine 1996 | Golden section / Applicants Exhibition for the title "Best Artist of 1996", Ukrainian House, Kyiv, Ukraine 1996 | Commodity Fetishism / Ukrainian House, Kyiv, Ukraine 1996 | Naked Dream / Blanc Art Gallery, Kyiv, Ukraine 1996 | Family Album / Contemporary Art Center, Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, Kyiv, Ukraine 1996 | Synthetic Art Advertising / Karas Gallery, Kyiv, Ukraine 1996 | Batiscaf – 1 / International Symposium / Sailors Palace, Odesa, Ukraine 1996 | ART Festival Participant / Odesa Museum of Western and Eastern Art, Odesa, Ukraine 1996 | Two Days and Two Nights / Contemporary Music Festival, Odesa, Ukraine 1995 | Dr. Frankenstein's Study / Scientists House, Odesa, Ukraine 1995 | Blood Test / Exhibitions directorate of the National Artists Union of Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine 1995 | Kandinsky Syndrome / Local History Museum, Odesa, Ukraine 1995 | Two Days and Two Nights / Tirs Contemporary Art Center, Odesa, Ukraine 1994 | Free Zone / Odesa Art Museum, Odesa, Ukraine 1994 | Cultural Revolution Space / Ukrainian House, Kyiv, Ukraine 1994 | Terrible – amorous / Tirs Contemporary Art Center, Odesa, Ukraine 1994 | Traditions Continuation / Odesa Art Museum, Odesa, Ukraine 1994 | Lux ex tenebris / Tirs Contemporary Art Center, Odesa, Ukraine 1993 | Grafik aus Odesa / Municipal Gallery, Rosenheim, Germany 1993 | Random Exhibition / Tirs Contemporary Art Center, Odesa, Ukraine 1993 | Steppes of Europe / Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw, Poland 1993 | Diaspora / Central Artists House, Moscow, Russia 1991 | Kunst aus Odesa / Galerie im Alten Rathaus, Prien am Chiemsee, Germany 1991 | The Glory and Modernity of Odesa / Yokohama, Japan 1991 | Ukrainian Pictorial Art of the ХХ century / National Art Museum of Ukraine, Kyiv, USSR 1990 | Babylon / Central Youth Palace, Moscow, USSR 1990 | After Modernism – 2 / Odesa Art Museum, Odesa, USSR 1990 | Avec Cézanne, avec Van Gogh pour la montagne Sant Victore... / Marseille, France 1990 | Soviart. Three generations of Ukrainian pictorial art of the 60-80s / Odense, Denmark 1990 | Soviart. Three generations of Ukrainian pictorial art of the 60-80s / Commerce and Industry Chamber, Kyiv, USSR 1989 | After Modernism / Odesa Art Museum, Odesa, USSR 1989 | New Figurations / Literary Museum, Odesa, USSR 1988 | All-Union Young Artists Exhibition / Manezh, Moscow, USSR 1973 – 1989 | participant of regional, republican, all-Union, foreign exhibitions
Collections
Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers University (New Jersey, United States) Udmurt Republican Fine Arts Museum (Izhevsk, Russia) National Art Museum of Ukraine (Kyiv, Ukraine) Museum of Modern Art of UkraineVasiliy Ryabchenko, "Prayer" – Museum of Contemporary Art of Ukraine // https://modern-museum.org.ua (Kyiv, Ukraine) Soviart Contemporary art Centre (Kyiv, Ukraine) Odesa Fine Arts Museum (Odesa, Ukraine) The Museum of Odesa Modern ArtVasiliy Ryabchenko // http://msio.com.ua/en/ (Odesa, Ukraine) Nikanor Onatsky Regional Art Museum (Sumy, Ukraine) Chernihiv Regional Art Museum (Chernihiv, Ukraine) Ministry of Culture of Ukraine (Kyiv, Ukraine) Exhibitions directorate of the National Artists Union of Ukraine (Kyiv, Ukraine) Zaporizhzhia Regional Art Museum (Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine) Cherkasy Regional Art Museum (Cherkasy, Ukraine) The Korsaks’ Museum of Contemporary Ukrainian (Lutsk, Ukraine)
Bibliography