What you need to know about Vasyl Ryabchenko — one of the most sophisticated Ukrainian artists

Vasyl Ryabchenko is a representative of the "new wave" of Ukrainian art, one of the most sophisticated Ukrainian artists, whose works have defined what Ukrainian art is today and are kept in the collections of the Zimmerli Art Museum in New Jersey, the National Art Museum of Ukraine, and private collections in Europe and the USA. Art critic Svitlana Starostenko talks about the artist's journey from Odesa to Boston, about the Ukrainian trans-avant-garde, and Vasyl Ryabchenko's theatrical way of thinking.

"I have a theatrical way of thinking"

...A young woman lies face down on the beach, under a white canopy that resembles the sails of a light yacht and gives the feeling of a warm wind. The outline of her body, drawn in a subdued tone, becomes one with the contours of the mountains, with the conditional division of the sea, sky and earth – like another element of the landscape. A gentle female image, among azure and pearl shades, is full of tenderness, peace and detachment from reality. Footprints on the sand and shells in the shadow add a light, playful dynamic. The beach, a lonely coast – an image of a place out of time, where you can imagine any year – and feel it again. The woman seems to be in her own dimension – in a state of leisure and infinity of being.

Before us is a painting by the artist Vasyl Ryabchenko, a representative of the "new wave of Ukrainian art".

"...when talking about the specifics of Vasyl Ryabchenko's work, I always run into the word "elegance" – this is how art critic and curator Mykhailo Rashkovetsky described his feelings to the audience at the Odesa opening, where the artist's works were exhibited. It is impossible not to agree. Ryabchenko is one of the most sophisticated Ukrainian contemporary artists. His images are characters on the front stage, ready to join any drama – from baroque tension to a game in the spirit of rococo. The artist himself formulates it simply: "I have a theatrical way of thinking."

Last year, the artist celebrated his 70th anniversary – on this occasion, several retrospective publications were published. Essays about him were included in key anthologies of contemporary Ukrainian art. However, it is worth talking about Ryabchenko not only on the occasion of dates. This text is an attempt to outline his unique worldview, painting style, context and peculiarity of his creative output.

But, according to the laws of the genre, one cannot do without a "biographical note". Vasyl Ryabchenko is a Ukrainian painter, author of numerous installations and photographs. He was born in 1954 in Odesa, in the family of a talented graphic artist Serhiy Ryabchenko. One of the famous works of Ryabchenko Sr., which is often published in the media, is a linocut with a portrait of realisation, full of tenderness, which is felt even in digital reproduction

Vasyl was still a child when their family moved to the House of Artists in Odessa, where his father got an apartment. His neighbours were famous masters – Oleksandr Atsmanchuk, Albin Gavdzinsky, Konstantin Lomykin, Mykola Shelyuto, Mykhailo Bozhiy, Oleksandr Tokarev, Mykhailo and Heorhiy Pavlyuk. This was his first artistic environment.

His childhood was spent among books: adventure literature, fantasy, fairy tales of the peoples of the world. He especially loved and still loves the myths of Ancient Greece. With enthusiasm, he studied everything he could find about the Indians – the indigenous population of North America – and about the underwater world of the oceans... A broad worldview, a sincere interest in visiting various museums – all this formed the uniqueness of his thoughts and encouraged his own creativity.

Vasyl began to paint early – some of his childhood works have even been preserved. In 1969, he entered the Odesa Grekov Art School, department of painting. After graduating, he was a free student at the Leningrad Mukhina Higher Art and Industrial School for two years. From the age of 19, he participated in group exhibitions.

Early works are ideologically neutral portraits and landscapes, often created during creative trips. This is the so-called "official" route, which paved the way to receiving official orders. They provided material support, leaving time to do something for the soul without being a "starving artist". Thus, in the early period of his work in the 1970s and early 1980s, Ryabchenko was able to maintain his own style, uninvolved with socialist realism.

Friendship with Oleksandr Roitburd and the formation of the "new wave" of modern Ukrainian art

A new era in the artist's artistic life began with his studies at the Odesa Pedagogical University, where his teacher was Valery Gegamyan. There he met Oleksandr Roitburd – this friendship lasted for over forty years. Together they formed a circle of like-minded people of their generation. Their unique creativity deserves a separate definition – later they were called artists of the southern "new wave" of modern Ukrainian art.

Odesa, at the turn of the 1980s and 1990s, is experiencing a surge of new names and the first curatorial exhibitions. With the participation of Ryabchenko, "After Modernism 1" and "After Modernism 2" are held at the Odesa Art Museum (curated by Mykhailo Rashkovetsky) – a kind of declaration of a new artistic direction. Ironic, bodily, warm-colored art rejects the remnants of socialist realism and formalism and forms a new visual language. At the end of the 20th century, Ukrainian artists finally get the opportunity to be themselves.

Vasyl Ryabchenko was one of those artists who, according to art critic Oleksandr Solovyov, caused a sensation at large group exhibitions — such as "Babylon" (1990) and "Youth of the Country" (the legendary project of 1987, where "Cleopatra's Sorrow" by Arsen Savadov and Heorhiy Senchenko was shown for the first and last time). The concentration of strong authors was exceptional, and state museums immediately purchased the works. Ryabchenko presented the painting "Cats" (or "Intimidation") about two rival cats. This work is dominated by the feeling of the confrontation of two forces. Today, this tension is read especially sharply — the work is still relevant today.

During Perestroika, a new, bold art was taking shape in Ukraine. And some critics note "in the second half of the 1980s, Ryabchenko was absorbed by the ideas of the transavant-garde." However, this is not entirely true. The transavant-garde is a postmodernist strategy that combines irony and historical reflection. In Ukraine, people started talking about it when the "new wave" was formed – at the intersection of the Baroque tradition and the academic school. Young artists combined technical mastery with creative freedom.

Vasyl Ryabchenko was one of those artists who, according to art critic Oleksandr Solovyov, caused a sensation at major group exhibitions.

"I didn't consciously play the trans-avant-garde — it was just a time when I saw an opportunity to realise what I had previously held back," notes Ryabchenko. This aesthetic arose naturally in his work. It manifests itself through allusions to mythology, religious motifs, quotes from cinema, philosophy, and art history, often on large canvases and with pasty layers of oil. This is how Ryabchenko worked, until he was surprised to learn that he was creating the very trans-avant-garde.

"I always liked large sizes in painting," the artist says, "there was a desire to do something big." The Ukrainian transavant-garde gravitated towards baroque aesthetics; sometimes it was defined as neo-baroque – for its scale and decorativeness. In Ryabchenko, this line eventually transforms into lighter, more refined forms – closer to neo-rococo. Loud fullness gives way to playfulness and delicacy – features that remain in his work today.

The atmosphere of Odesa, ancient tradition and myths in the artist's works

References to his hometown are present in his works – the atmosphere of Odesa is impossible not to feel in the minimalist beach sketches and series of "baroque" fountains, which are painted figuratively, but ironically point to the "Big Fountain" – the name of the resort part of the city.

In one of his interviews, Vasyl Ryabchenko speaks especially warmly. "Olena and I met and have always been together since then...", he recalls meeting his wife. The feeling of togetherness and family happiness has become an important part of his work. He painted many portraits of Olena, involved her as a model in installations and photographic series. The image of Olena is present in most female characters in one way or another. The couple has three children, and for all of them, creativity has become a profession. The eldest son Stepan, a representative of the third generation of the artistic dynasty, is a famous media artist: the author of installations, digital works and graphic works on paper.

"I am most interested in my family," Vasyl cheerfully said, "that is why in my works there is so often a man, a woman and a child – it all starts with this." The dominance of such a triad is noticeable in the artist's largest pictorial series "Games with Characters". Here the author's thinking about "theatrical production" is most clearly manifested. The series is replete with references to ancient tradition, complete nudity, the atmosphere of royal palaces and dangerous royal intrigues.

In Ryabchenko's painting, some expressions resemble world-famous works. "Marat" alludes to Jacques-Louis David's classic canvas "The Death of Marat" (1793). At the same time, many plots are built on fictional characters who, as if by the Mandela effect, seem very familiar to us, as if we really know where they come from. For example, "The Education of Balbesin" (1988) is an ironic, grotesque episode from the life of a fictional hero. Ryabchenko seems to convince: it really happened – we just forgot.

"I have always considered my weakness to be the desire to give my all in every work, to achieve a certain ideal state. Under some "characters", for example, other "characters" are written..., – I often radically rework the work, when it is long since necessary to stop... as if trying to prove my professionalism to my invisible opponent..."

"I am most interested in my family; that is why in the works there is so often a man, a woman and a child – it all starts with that"

And if in painting Ryabchenko works on each picture for a long time, with breaks and finishing touches, then photography, with its instant result, has become an alternative. "Painting is a long time, I get carried away in it, and photography is the quick result that I like," the artist shares.

They say that it was through his acquaintance with the legendary Odesa nonconformist Valentin Khrushch that Ryabchenko became interested in photography. In fact, his talent and love for this practice appeared earlier. Communication with Khrushch rather allowed the artist to learn about a more professional and advanced technique than the one he himself used.

"This was one of the reasons for our acquaintance and, later, our friendship. But I started taking photos on my own. At first, I shot with the Soviet "FED" and "Zenit". It was with the "Zenit" that I took a picture, thanks to which I reconsidered my attitude to the possibilities of photography. Khrushch introduced me to German and English optics, assuming that I lacked the "optical power" that foreign cameras gave. They allowed me to skillfully work with light, shadow, texture... I felt how different an image could be thanks to optics...", the artist recalls. Photography became an independent practice for him – a way of quick realization. For Khrushch, it remained a tool of fixation and research.

In 1995, for the cycle of analog works Naked Dream, Vasyl Ryabchenko won the title of "Best Artist of Ukraine" and the prize of the All-Ukrainian Festival "Golden Section". The black-and-white series depicts models in the aesthetics characteristic of the 1990s. Before the award ceremony, it was shown in the Kyiv gallery "Blank Art". "These works are a recording of the process of creating an installation using living things, but devoid of signs of individuality "creatures", as well as inanimate "trash" generated by civilization. The pictures were taken at a time when nudity, especially female, was at the peak of popularity in mass culture."

Ryabchenko was one of the first to turn to installation – in 1993 he created "Swing for Stumps". The work consisted of two elements: a mobile wooden structure with a stump suspended on chains and a large painting with a field landscape, which served as a conditional background. This is an ironic criticism of the old school, focused on form to the detriment of content – a metaphor for the impasse of Soviet art, disconnected from a living artistic search.

Odesa artists of the 1990s actively interacted with the Kyiv art scene (unlike the previous generation). Artistic life was in full swing in the capital of the now independent country, and one of its centers was the "Parkomuna" squat – a place of work for young authors who later became key figures: Oleg Holosiy, Valeria Trubina, Oleksandr Klymenko, Oleksandr Hnylytskyi, Maksym well-recognisablesagolov and others. Odesans were also part of this circle, and Ryabchenko regularly visited there.

"It was the center of everything – it would be strange to come to Kyiv and not visit the Parkomuna. Especially during the preparation of exhibitions or after the opening ceremonies," he recalls. He was connected by a close friendship with Oleksandr Hnylytskyi, whom he calls a unique person. While visiting Kyiv, he also visited the "biographer of the era", art critic Olexander Solovyov.

"It was the center of everything — it would be strange to come to Kyiv and not visit Parkomuna"

At one of these openings in Kyiv, at the "Photo…synthesis" exhibition in 1997 (curated by O. Solovyov, E. Solonyn, I. Oksametny), it was Ryabchenko who took the most famous photographic portrait of Hnylytsky in the image of Ernesto Che Guevara. "Bratkov, Chichkan, and Hnylytsky were there," Vasyl recalls. At the opening, I had a photograph of Che Guevara in my hands — a well-recognizable one, with a Cuban cigar in his mouth. I asked Sashko [Hnylytsky] to adjust it to himself — and it turned out to be a pretty realistic collage." Over time, this photograph became one of the most used in publications about Hnylytsky, who passed away in 2011. It is sometimes mistakenly considered a self-portrait.

Ryabchenko took it in the auditorium of the Kyiv Art Institute (today the National Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture), where he and Alexander Roitburd visited during the holidays. The photo shows the naked artist against the background of his own five-meter work, which creates the effect of wings or the image of an angel. "Perhaps this was my first acquaintance with Kyiv artists – at that time I met both Oleg Holosiy and Valeria Trubina," he recalls.

He continues to take photographs today: "I take a lot of pictures – what interests me. I want to introduce people to my photography". His archive records decades of Odesa's artistic life – meetings, vernissages, the environment. These works accurately convey both the sense of time and the character of the models.

Vasyl Ryabchenko is a pioneer of installation and a strong photographer, but painting is the key material of his work. He did not abandon it even in the mid-1990s, when many colleagues turned to video art and photography. Later, most of them also returned to painting.

Instead of an epilogue, Ryabchenko's story continues

The full-scale invasion caught the artist at home, in Odesa. At the same time, in the States, his daughter Vera gave birth to a child – and Vasyl and his wife went to meet their granddaughter. Having overcome such a long journey and given the opportunity to work safely, they decided to stay overseas for a while. First – in Colorado, in particular in Denver, where the first contacts with gallery owners took place, participation in a joint project that opened up new acquaintances. Currently, a solo project is being discussed with new works created under the influence of local nature. It recalled a childhood fascination with Indians – as if a moment of recognition had occurred. However, he does not see himself as an "emigrant artist". This is simply the "American period" of the artist's work. Today, Ryabchenko lives and works in Boston, visits art museums, and studies architecture.

Despite his absence in his homeland, his works are actively exhibited in Ukraine. A number of paintings with seascapes were presented in the large-scale project "Sea", which lasted four months at the Zenyk Art Gallery in Lviv. This summer, Ryabchenko's works from the early 1990s will be shown in a large collective project at the "Mystetskyi Arsenal" in Kyiv.

His works are kept in leading museum collections in Ukraine – in Kyiv, Odesa, Sumy, Chernihiv, Zaporizhia, Cherkasy, as well as in the Korsak Museum of Contemporary Ukrainian Art in Lutsk, the Zimmerli Museum (USA) and private collections.

I want to go to Odessa... I dream of my workshop, the things that lie there

He also has his own collection, primarily works by friends from the "new wave." Unfortunately, many of them have already passed away: his comrade Roitburd, about whom Ryabchenko speaks only in the present tense: "Without Sasha, I miss him — Roitburd was such a given that it seemed he would always be. Like Lenya Voitsekhov. I'm bored without them..." His collection also includes the legendary Valentin Khrushch, Volodymyr Strelnikov, Valery Basanets, and Viktor Maryniuk, without whom it is impossible to imagine the Odesa artistic context of the second half of the 20th century.

Ryabchenko also misses home: "I want to go to Odesa... I dream of my studio, the things that lie there... I like America, but I'm a guest here. I want to return." He is convinced that he will return — to live and work in his hometown, which became one of the forposts of this war.