Dymchuk Gallery presents the exhibition «Collection. Vasyl Tsagolov», which continues the series of events dedicated to the 10th anniversary of the gallery. The exhibition includes paintings by Vasyl Tsaholov from the projects Fear Has Big Eyes, Swan Lake, The Ghost of the Revolution, and others.
Vasyl Tsagolov (b. 1957) is a Ukrainian artist and performer. He was born in Digori, North Ossetia, and is representative of the new Ukrainian wave, a member of the Parkommune artistic squat, and one of the pioneers of Ukrainian video art and performance. The artist lives and works in Kyiv.
A recognizable element of Tsagolov’s paintings is the white background of the canvas, which is visible through the gaps in the picture. The artist uses this technique to create the effect of «breathing» and light in his work.
The Swan Lake series consists of works created in 2007-2013 by Tsagolov in various media: painting, installation, and sculpture. The leitmotif of the series is the image of a ballerina with explosives. The background for the dancers is a peaceful landscape, which, in contrast, draws attention to the sense of danger in everyday life.
Contemporary Ukrainian artists have referred to the theme of ballet as a symbol of danger and hypocrisy since the late 1980s. Ballet has been and still is one of the most prominent «export products» and symbols of the Soviets, and now invading Russian culture. Arsen Savadov also addressed this topic in his works from the Donbas-Chocolate series, part of which was on view in the previous exhibition of the Collection project.
The series Fear Has Large Eyes (2010-2011) comprises portrait and genre compositions that convey the idea of fear spreading worldwide due to acts of violence and terrorism. In the project, Tsagolov depicts the proverb «Fear has big eyes» by focusing on the unnaturally large eyes of the characters in the paintings. The project’s exposition presents the work Fly, with which two large-format canvases of emotional portraits of Anatolii Dymchuk form a conditional dialogue.
Also, within the framework of the exhibition «Collection. Vasyl Tsagolov», you can view painted interiors and work from the project The Ghost of the Revolution, which was on show in 2013 at Dymchuk Gallery and presented by the gallery at the international fair Volta 10 in Basel, Switzerland.
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As a concept, Dymchuk Gallery was founded in 2008 by Anatoliy Dymchuk. For several years, the gallery team initiated and implemented projects at various venues in Kyiv and Odesa. Later, in 2013, the gallery opened its premises in Kyiv at the address of St. Yaroslavska, 21. This year, some works from the Dymchuk Gallery art collection may be seen live as part of the «Collection» project – a series of events dedicated to the gallery’s 10th anniversary.