DENYS KUSHNAROV and YURI BOYKO
“WAR AND PEACE” (UKRAINIAN VOICES)
A two-person exhibition featuring film, a message from Ukraine, and photography
Opening Reception: Saturday, April 2, 2022, from 1 to 4 pm
RSVP HERE
El Nido art space presented by VC Projects, 1028 N. Western Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90029
Exhibition dates: April 2 - 14th, 2022 | by appointment only
Yuri Boyko, “Departure and Arrival (X)”, photography, pigment print on canvas, 8.5 x 11 in. single edition
Saturday, April 2, 2022, is recognized globally as “Slow Art Day” where art spaces, galleries, museums, and art institutions around the world plan events centered around slowing down and spending time to observe art. El Nido is proud to present special programming in honor of this day.
The two-person exhibition, Denys Kushnarov, and Yuri Boyko, “War and Peace” (Ukrainian Voices), brings forth a sincere gesture to support a country currently under fire and is curated by Victoria Chapman (VC Projects)
The exhibition began as the curator reached out to Denys Kushnarov, a Kyiv-based filmmaker, who Chapman befriended a few years ago on Instagram, requesting a personal letter be written to the world based on the current Russian invasion. With some thought, Kushnarov provided, “A Message from Ukraine”, along with, six supporting short films about his country, including 2014-2015 “Make Music Not War!”, made after the Donbas region and Crimea Peninsula were annexed by Russia. The remaining five shorts, “Rocketman”, “United System”, “There is a Place” (dedicated to the Chernobyl tragedy), “Annihilation”, and Memorial Choir "Ukraina", which Kushnarov is associated with and felt it too, shares a multifaceted story about Ukraine, its people, and the core of their humanity.
During the same time of communicating with Kushnarov, Chapman also reached out to Los Angeles-based Ukrainian-American artist, Yuri Boyko. The two did a support gathering with artists and friends in Los Angeles acknowledging Ukraine’s current state and its rich history spanning over sixteen centuries. As the news deepened and emotions began to build, it seemed obvious to Chapman to share Kushnarov and Boyko’s voices, one in the middle of a conflict in Kyiv and the other at afar in Los Angeles. Both are just and very real. Chapman thought to herself, “What could be more relevant for Slow Art Day … taking a pause to reflect on art and humanity.”
With this said, also on display, is the photography series, “Departure and Arrival”, by Boyko. The series presents written prose and visual exploration of the artist’s grandmother’s home in Ukraine. A few years ago, after 30 years of absence, Boyko returned to the dwelling and what he found was quite fascinating: all family rituals and traditions were intact. Time seemed to stand still there, while Boyko’s world had clearly been set on a different course. And now, Ukraine's path has been altered dramatically, and its peace has been shattered. Boyko’s photographs, which are on linen, are a sincere capture of the past that has been destroyed, yet continue to live as hope in people's hearts.
“War and Peace” (Ukrainian Voices ) exhibition, brings together two artists that share a love for their country, and the pain and hope of people besieged and uprooted by the war. The afternoon is designed to instill discussion and support.
Yuri Boyko, Departure and Arrival (I), photography, pigment print on canvas, 8.5 x 11 in. single edition
Yuri Boyko, Departure and Arrival (IV), photography, pigment print on canvas, 8.5 x 11 in. single edition
Yuri Boyko, Departure and Arrival (II), photography, pigment print on canvas, 8.5 x 11 in. single edition
Yuri Boyko, Departure and Arrival (V), photography, pigment print on canvas, 8.5 x 11 in. single edition
Message from Ukraine
Disaster, which changed the world. The war in Ukraine affected many aspects not only our life and raised numerous questions not only for Ukraine but for all the neighboring countries and the whole world. Among them: what is real democracy? What is real freedom? And what are you ready for to defend it?
We would like also to show you the series of our short films, which we made in a period from 2014 till 2018 after our land faced all the horrors of the war for the first time in modern history: the Crimean Peninsula was annexed & the territory of Donbas region in Eastern Ukraine became a constant stage of the real war started by Russia. A lot of our friends & relatives are left without homes & turned to forced migrants. If only then the world turned to unite against those tyranny and military crimes, if only all the countries provided the same sanctions as they do today and provided some help and support, we don`t have such a horrible full-scale war as we have today, where thousands of peaceful citizens were killed by Russian rockets. The politics of appeasement was provided both towards Hitler and Putin. And finally, it led to the same catastrophe. So, every single episode in our films, which were attached to this message, is a signal to the international audience: learn history, make conclusions & do actions to prevent it.
And Finally:
What the drop in the ocean would mean to us? Probably, not much.
What the sand grains in the desert would mean to us? Probably, not much.
What`s your support for Ukraine mean to us? Believe me: pretty much.
Be an ocean of voices, be a desert of opinions.
Help to save Ukraine, help to save Freedom, help to save the World.
Respectfully, Den
Kyiv, March 19, 2022
LINKS TO SHORT FILMS BY DENYS KUSHNAROV
(Click on the image or title of each film to view on Vimeo)
2014- 2015, “Make Music, Not War!" by Denys Kushnarov, Oles Seredytskyi Roman Orlov, Volodymyr Bozhynskyi, Ilia Buturlin, Ukraine
Synopsis: Yesterday – peace, today – war. And if only all the military could solve their issues playing music, but not playing with our lives, - we’d get another tomorrow.
Screenings / Awards: Szczecin European Film Festival (Poland), Cinevana Berlin (Germany); Little Mexico Film Festival (USA); London Shows International Film Festival (UK); Show Me Justice Film Festival (USA); 39th Film Festival de Elche (Spain); FECIBogotá - International Independent Film Fair of Bogotá (Columbia); Courts Critique (Canada); Grand Indie Wise Convention (USA); Festival de Cortometrajes "Jose Francisco Rosado" PACAS (Spain), Encounters Short Film Festival "Image In Cabestany" (France), MISTER VORKY (Serbia), The International Short Film Festival SHORT FORM (Serbia), Global Migration Film Festival (Switzerland), 3 Minutes 3 Days Film Festival (Iraq)
2015, “Rocketman” by Denys Kushnarov and Dmitriy Mulenko
Synopsis: Extraordinary confession of a 76. years old Ukrainian, who appeared to be closer to stars & to the main Star of that time, than anyone else.
Watch the motivating story & get to know, what this unusual person has still to be done?
Screenings / Awards: Civilisation & Culture Film Festival (Croatia); "Best Ukrainian Short 2015" by the National Filmmakers' Union of Ukraine
2017, “United System” by Denys Kushnarov, Roman Orlov, Volodymyr Bozhynskyi, Arthur Bondarchuk, Egor Pysarenko
Synopsis: If Ukraine could visit a doctor, what shall we see on the X-ray photo of the land?
2018, “There is a Place” (about Chernobyl) by Denys Kushnarov, Oles Seredytskyi, Alexander Pochtar, Roman Orlov
Synopsis: There is a place, where the relationship between humans & nature was broken off. But there is always Hope.
Screenings / Awards: Winner of Short Cut Film Festival (Serbia); winner of International "Green Fest" Film Festival (Serbia); official selection of Marano Ragazzi Spot Festival (Italy); Miami Independent Film Fest; European Drone Film Festival; International Festival of Short Films on Culture & Tourism (India); International Tourism Film Festival "Tourfilm Riga" (Latvia), 30 Girona Film Festival GIFF (Spain)
2018, “Annihilation” by Denys Kushnarov, Roman Orlov, Volodymyr Bozhynskyi, Dmytro Bilyi
Synopsis: What would You like to remember during Your last day?
What would You like to remember during Your last day if you`re a refugee?
What would You like to remember during Your last day if you`re a refugee from the Earth?
Screenings / Awards: Official Selection of 36th Fajr International Film Festival Tehran (Iran), Brukivka International Film Festival (Ukraine), Cinemaway Film Festival (Ukraine)
2019, Memorial Choir "Ukraina" by Oles Seredytskyi, Alexander Pochtar, and in association with Denys Kushnarov
When Ukraine failed to secure its statehood in 1919, a renowned conductor and accomplished composer, Maestro Oleksandr Koshetz, was commissioned to tour the world with a 300-person choir to validate Ukraine’s place among civilized nations. To rave reviews, Koshetz demonstrated the enduring richness of Ukraine’s European identity through its treasured sacred and folk music.
One hundred years later, Golden Horseshoe Productions pays tribute to Koshetz’s endeavors with the world tour of a 100-person choir, “Ukraina” (Ukraine), performing a unique repertoire of Ukrainian sacred music and specially composed choral vignettes based on Koshetz’s historical songs.
We seek to honor Koshetz's dream of showcasing to the world an independent Ukraine identity connected to Europe through its deep, rich choral culture.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS:
Denys Kushnarov is a Ukrainian filmmaker, journalist, and actor.
In childhood, Denys was fond of music, cinema, karate, and ballroom dancing. He graduated from lyceum “Erudite” with a gold medal in Liberal Arts. Then he studied at Donetsk National University with a specialization in translation (German, English). A short time after graduation Denys worked as a freelance translator at different industrial objects: descending with the engineers into the mine or translating technologies at the candy factory. Alongside Denys took part in the local theatre project and performed as a standup comic.
Then he moved to Kyiv and won a quiz show, which helped him to graduate from TV school.
After finishing TV school Denys worked as a freelance journalist for the travel magazines Welcome to Ukraine and International Tourism. Then he began to work for Ukrainian TV channels as a journalist and screenwriter.
In 2015 he began to work as a film director and together with his colleague released Rocketman, a documentary that was awarded "Best Ukrainian Short 2015" by the National Filmmakers' Union of Ukraine. His other short films entered the official selection of numerous film festivals.
During his TV career Denys Kushnarov, together with his colleagues Oles Seredytskyi and Lena Basse, was famous for his exclusive reports from the biggest film events of the world (Oscar, Golden Globe Awards, Cannes Film Festival) and special TV stories, dedicated to the Chernobyl accident.
Yuri Boyko is a multi-disciplinary artist residing in Los Angeles. He took up photography in early childhood with a simple Lomo camera and, encouraged by the family, had set up a portable darkroom in their urban apartment.
Yuri grew up in Kyiv, Ukraine, and attended the British Higher School of Art and Design, Department of Photography in Moscow, where his graduation work of seven large-scale B&W diptychs presented constructivism treatment of a historic landmark.
His early work of video sequence and still images dealt with an infinitely repetitive circle of life stages. Later he worked on a series to transform temporary public art objects into permanent abstractions on the photographic surface, as well as on a study of visual perception modification by commonplace architectural elements and their color spaces. Subsequently, a large-scale collaborative project of life-sized prints addressed human self-conception in a sociological context and explored its radical change over time as well as its ever-present humanity.
During an artist residency in Spain, he created a body of work utilizing deconstruction of shapes and colors of the Catalan flag ‘la Senyera’ as a continuous narrative element to present symbols and subtle abstractions of local customs and culture.
Yuri’s photographic series “A Light Divine”, “Transience”, “Salve”, photogravures “Veil”, and recent works “Desideratum”, “Departure and Arrival”, and “Meditation On A Tree” focus on the relationship of the conscious and the unconscious where an interpretation of the interplay between them is suggestive, yet invites a viewer to actively participate to draw their conclusions.
Currently, he continues to develop ideas of individuation through psychological dimensions of figurative and representational art.
Yuri’s work has been shown in the US and Europe and is a recipient of the Site-Specific Public Art award at Zaha Hadid’s Napoli Afragola Train Station in Italy and the Art On The Outside award for the public art in the City of West Hollywood. He was selected for Short List of Artisti Primiati (Top Artist) at the V Biennale of Contemporary Art in Genoa, Italy, and artist residencies in Spain, Italy, and the USA.
Boyko received multiple grant awards and his work has been published in art magazines and publications in the USA, China, Italy, and Germany. He was interviewed by French and Italian TV and radio channels.
ABOUT THE CURATOR
Victoria Chapman, Founder/Director of VC Projects (2014), is a British-American Los Angeles-based curator. Victoria has spent the past 30 years working domestically and internationally in a variety of means with art directors, curators, art consultants, artists, galleries, museums, and art institutions, assisting with administrative, curatorial, and exhibition planning.
ABOUT "EL NIDO" art space
El Nido ("the nest") opened in 2021 and makes its mission to share visual, performing arts, including the written word, and is presented by VC Projects. The intimate art space is set off the beaten path on N. Western Avenue in East Hollywood (a block shy of Route 66/Santa Monica Blvd). It has recently been dubbed Western Avenue Collective by its artist-residents. El Nido is inside the historical enclave, consisting of 22 artist studios dating from 1922. The entire property feels 'old Hollywood' style, and at one time, the compound was the former home to some of the members of the LA Cool School.
LISTEN TO A PODCAST WITH THE ARTISTS ABOUT THE EXHIBITION
VC PROJECTS PODCAST “CONVERSATIONS ABOUT ART” LISTEN ON SPOTIFY
In this episode, we connect with Denys Kushnarov in Kyiv and Yuri Boyko in Los Angeles, regarding their two-person exhibition: "War and Peace" (Ukrainian Voices) in honor of Ukraine and Slow Art Day, April 2, 2022. The exhibition is located at El Nido art space in Hollywood and curated by VC Projects. Both Ukrainian artists talk about the current war with Russia and the artwork on display; six short films, "Make War Not Peace", "Rocketman", "United Systems", "Annihilation", "There is a Place" (about Chernobyl), "Memorial Choir Ukraina", by Denys Kushnarov and a series in pigment on linen (photography), "Departure and Arrival" by Yuri Boyko. This is an insightful talk, bringing together two artists that share a love for their country, and the pain and hope of people besieged and uprooted by the war.
Recorded on April 1, 2022
ABOUT THE SLOW MOVEMENT
The Slow Movement advocates a cultural shift toward slowing down life's pace. It began with Carlo Petrini's protest against the opening of a McDonald's restaurant in Piazza di Spagna, Rome in 1986 that sparked the creation of the slow food movement. Over time, this developed into a subculture in other areas, like the Cittaslow organization for "slow cities." The "slow" epithet has subsequently been applied to a variety of activities and aspects of culture. Geir Berthelsen and his creation of The World Institute of Slowness[1] presented a vision in 1999 for an entire "slow planet" and a need to teach the world the way of slowness.
In Carl Honoré's 2004 book, In Praise of Slow, he describes the Slow Movement thus:
"It is a cultural revolution against the notion that faster is always better. The Slow philosophy is not about doing everything at a snail's pace. It's about seeking to do everything at the right speed. Savoring the hours and minutes rather than just counting them. Doing everything as well as possible, instead of as fast as possible. It’s about quality over quantity in everything from work to food to parenting."[2]
Professor Guttorm Fløistad summarises the philosophy, stating:
"The only thing for certain is that everything changes. The rate of change increases. If you want to hang on you better speed up. That is the message of today. It could however be useful to remind everyone that our basic needs never change. The need to be seen and appreciated! It is the need to belong. The need for nearness and care, and for a little love! This is given only through slowness in human relations. In order to master changes, we have to recover slowness, reflection and togetherness. There we will find real renewal."[3] (Wikipedia)
To learn more about Slow Art Day, and it’s programming visit: www.slowartday.com