Women United ART MOVEMENT
is proud to present

PEACE AND WAR

a solo exhibit by

IRYNA AKIMOVA

THE SOLO EXHIBITION PEACE AND WAR BY A UKRAINIAN CONTEMPORARY ARTIST IRYNA AKIMOVA IS A REMINDER OF THE UTMOST VALUE OF PEACE AND ITS EXTREME FRAGILITY, WHICH NEEDS STRONG PROTECTION IN ORDER NOT TO TURN INTO THE HORRORS OF WAR. THIS EXHIBITION CONTAINS TWO PARTS.

FIRST, COME ELEVEN PIECES FROM THE CYCLE PEACE AND WAR (WHICH GAVE THE TITLE FOR THE EXHIBITION). THEN, THE AUTHOR PRESENTS NINE PICTURES FROM THE CYCLE SEASONS. TWO PARTS OF THE SHOW DIFFER IN THEMES, MOODS AND DOMINANT COLORS. IT IS A CONTRAST BETWEEN WAR AND PEACE, DESTRUCTION AND PROSPERITY. THE FIRST PART IS A PERSONAL STORY ABOUT THE MOST DRAMATIC PAGES OF MODERN UKRAINIAN HISTORY - THE WAR RUSSIA STARTED AGAINST UKRAINE AT THE BEGINNING OF 2022.

GEOMETRIC PROFILES IN THE PICTURES CONTAIN A LOT OF BROKEN LINES AND CRACKS AS A REMINDER OF THE DISASTERS THAT WAR BRINGS INTO HUMAN LIVES. BLUE AND YELLOW COLORS DOMINATE THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE CYCLE. THESE ARE COLORS OF THE UKRAINIAN NATIONAL FLAG, WHICH PRESENTLY SYMBOLIZES THE FIGHT FOR DEMOCRATIC VALUES AND FREEDOMS.

PICTURES FROM THE SECOND PART OF THE EXHIBITION BELONG TO THE CYCLE SEASONS. THEY BRING THE SPECTATOR BACK TO THE SIMPLE BEAUTIES OF PEACEFUL LIFE. INTRICATE ABSTRACT SYMBOLS INTERTWINE INTO FANTASTIC COMPOSITIONS AS IF NATURE REPRODUCES THE LIVING FLESH FROM THE INVISIBLE MAGIC COMPONENTS. BRIGHT MOSAICS MERGE WITH SENSUAL FEMALE BODY LINES AND STYLIZED DECORATIVE ELEMENTS, INVITING TO THE WORLD OF SUN AND EXPRESSION.

THE EXHIBITION PRESENTS ELEGANT LANDSCAPES, SENSUAL STILL LIVES, AND SEVERAL PORTRAITS. THE EXPRESSIONISTIC SPIRIT OF IRYNA’S ARTWORKS COMES TOGETHER WITH THE ABSTRACT, SOMETIMES EVEN SURREALISTIC TOUCH.” I AM FOND OF «EXERCISES DE STYLE». IT HELPS ME TO CREATE MY PERSONAL SHOTS OF REALITY WITH BETTER PRECISION, COMING DEEPER INTO THE HIDDEN CORNERS OF HUMAN NATURE” - THE ENDLESS SEARCH FOR THE UNUSUAL IN THE ORDINARY.

IRYNA WORKS WITH ACRYLIC ON CANVAS. THE AUTHOR USES HER MULTILAYER TECHNIQUE, WHICH ADDS DEPTH AND VOLUME TO THE COMPOSITION. MANY PICTURES FROM THIS EXHIBITION HAVE ALREADY RECEIVED AWARDS AT INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITIONS AND ART CONTESTS.

ARTIST BIO

Iryna Akimova is a contemporary Ukrainian artist who lives and works in Kyiv. She graduated from Kharkiv State University (Ukraine), where she got her PhD degree. Iryna started her professional artistic career 15 years ago after having vast experience as a University professor, director of an NGO, and parliamentarian.

“Going into the arts constituted an unexpected turn on my life path. However, it brought an enormous excitement and unleashed my creativity“.

Some of her art projects were inspired by political problems and addressed social injustice. Later she concentrated on studying the roots of individuality in forming subjective perceptions of reality. She creates her pictures (including landscapes and still lives) as reflections of human feelings and emotions. Her professional advancement was noted by famous Ukrainian artist Ivan Marchuk, who called Iryna a new star in the Ukrainian contemporary art family.

She is fond of «exercices de style» and experiments. She often presents her expressionistic paintings along with impressive abstract and surrealistic experiments. She started with painting and then went into installations, video animation and performance to achieve a multidimensional effect.

She had ten solo exhibitions and took part in 50+ national and international group exhibitions. She received awards at several international art contests. Some of her pictures were successfully sold at Phillips auction in London, and several artworks entered museums and private collections in Ukraine, Germany, Slovakia, and China.

Iryna is a member of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine. Five years ago, she founded the Ukrainian Association of Feminine Research in the Arts (UAFRA) and established an annual Womens’ArtFest to advocate gender equality in the arts.

ARTIST STATEMENT

The PEACE AND WAR cycle project was created between 2022 - 2023. It represents the author's personal story about a dramatic page of Ukrainian history. It starts with two peaceful landscapes from the small town of Tulchyn in the Vinnytsa region, where Iryna escaped with her family for two weeks from the horrors of war. A small pond and the trees bathe in the blue-yellow-orange color palette of the setting sun (A POND IN TULCHYN, PEACE 1). The author's fantasy turns it into an abstract print of a spring evening with elements of surrealism (PEACE 2). Feel the fragile atmosphere of peace and freedom; keep it in your heart. The peaceful landscape turns into a war landscape, full of broken lines, fires, and a greedy breath of death (WAR1). The stem of a mystical war plant tries to fill the entire space with flames and destruction (WAR 2). The war destroys our houses and lives, trying to uproot us from our native environment (UNROOTED). A number of refugees (REFUGEES) flee to other places and countries. A confused, lonely little girl with a doll cries because her ordinary world cracks beneath her feet (THE CRACKED WORLD). People defend their country and are ready to give their lives for its freedom. For many of them, the time has stopped, and they remain in our memory forever (A MONUMENT TO THOSE FOR WHOM TIME HAS STOPPED). We believe in our victory and hope that our relatives return home alive (WAITING…) to resurrect the country and bring it back to normal life (RESURRECTION…).

Blue and yellow colors dominate throughout the whole cycle. These are the colors of the Ukrainian national flag, which presently symbolize the fight for democratic values and freedoms.

Pictures from the cycle SEASONS bring the spectator back to the simple beauties of peaceful life (THE GIRL AND THE SUN, WHITE FLOWERS, RAIN, CODWEB). Intricate abstract symbols merge into a fantastic composition, through which real flowers begin to grow as if nature itself reproduces the living flesh from the invisible magic components ( DANCE OF PINK FLOWERS, THE ELM). Bright mosaics merge with sensual female body lines and stylized decorative elements, inviting to the world of sun and expression (MEDITATION, POPPIES, IRISES).

The exhibition presents elegant landscapes, sensual still lives, and several portraits. The expressionistic spirit of Iryna's artworks comes together with the abstract and sometimes even surrealistic touch." I am fond of «exercices de style». It helps me to create my personal shots of reality with better precision, coming deeper into the hidden corners of human nature" - the endless search for the unusual in the ordinary.

Iryna works with acrylic on canvas. The author uses her multilayer technique, which adds depth and volume to the composition. Many pictures from this exhibition have already received awards at international art contests.

www.akimova-art.com.ua
IG: @iryna_akimova_art
FB: /iryna.akimova.39
Email: akimova.best@gmail.com