Ukrainian avant-garde art presented in major exhibition in Chicago (07/23/06)

Ukrainian avant-garde art presented in major exhibition in Chicago

CHICAGO - The Chicago Depart-ment of Cultural Affairs has announced that the first major exhibition of early 20th century Ukrainian art in the United States, "Crossroads: Modernism in Ukraine, 1910-1930," is on display at the Chicago Cultural Center from July 22 through October 15. Admission to the exhibition is free.

This exhibit of 21 Ukrainian avant-garde artists includes approximately over 70 works gathered by Prof. Dmitrii Dmytro Horbachov, an international expert on this period, and Nikita Lobanov-Rostovsky from private collections, the National Art Museum of Ukraine, the Theater Museum, the Museum of Folk Art of Ukraine, and the Art Museum of Dnipropetrovsk.

Anatolii Melnyk, general director of the National Art Museum of Ukraine, provided organizational assistance in Ukraine and John Bowlt, professor at the University of Southern California, served as editor of the exhibition catalogue.

The exhibition has been organized by the Foundation for International Arts and Education with the National Art Museum of Ukraine. It is presented by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and the Kyiv Committee of the Chicago Sister Cities International Program.

The national tour is sponsored by The Boeing Company, the Trust for Mutual Understanding, Nour USA Ltd., Konstantin Grigorishin and Aerosvit Airlines. Additional financial support has been provided by Oleksandr Tabalov, Mykola M. Shymone, Dean Buntrock and Chadbourne and Park, LLP.

"'Crossroads' explores the role of Ukraine in the development of the avant-garde movement," said Gregory Knight, deputy commissioner/visual arts of the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs. "It includes works by well-known artists like Kazimir Malevich, Alexandra Exter and David Burliuk, and introduces American audiences to previously unknown Ukrainian artists including Yasyl Yermylov and Oleksandr Bohomazov."

The international avant-garde movement that reached its peak during the first three decades of the 20th century included many influential and innovative artists from Ukraine. As elsewhere in the former Soviet Union, these artists were persecuted and executed in the 1930s, and their works were banned or destroyed.

According to local experts, nearly 2,000 of these works were confiscated by the government during the late 1930s and only 300 remain today. This exhibition presents the best of these works, many of which have only recently been viewed outside of Ukraine.

Writing in the exhibition catalogue, Mr. Lobanov-Rostovsky noted: "This exhibit is designed to show an American audience the talent and unique nature of Ukrainian avant-garde art and to help understand that the artists are, indeed, Ukrainian, not Russian, a difference not always appreciated in the West. Moreover, the exhibition is equally important because it will also help Ukrainians acquaint themselves with their own cultural heritage."

The public is invited to learn more about the exhibition with a full schedule of events listed below that have been organized to accompany the exhibition. All are free, unless otherwise noted.

Lunchbreak: Classical Mondays - Monday, July 31, 12:15 p.m., Preston Bradley Hall, Chicago Cultural Center. The MAVerick Ensemble presents a classical program inspired by the exhibition, featuring the music of Boris Liatoshynsky and Virko Baley.
Gallery Talk, Thursday, August 17, 12:15 p.m., Exhibit Hall, Chicago Cultural Center, with Jane Friedman, Chicago-based independent scholar.
Contemporary Ukrainian Cinema Festival, Wednesday, August 23 to Friday, August 25, 7:30 p.m., Gallery 37 Rooftop, 66 E. Randolph. This festival features a selection of some of the best works by Ukrainian filmmakers produced over the last five years with film introductions by Dr. Yuri Shevchuk, lecturer of Ukrainian language and culture at Columbia University and founder and director of the university's Ukrainian Film Club. The festival is organized by the Department of Cultural Affairs, the Kyiv Committee of the Chicago Sister Cities International Program, with participation of the Ukrainian Film Club and the Ukrainian Studies Program of Columbia University.

Tickets to the opening night of the film festival, catered by Fox and Obel, are $15. The remaining nights of the film festival are free, but tickets are required. To order tickets, please call 312-742-TIXS (8497) or visit www.ticketweb.com.

Discussion: Ukrainian Modernism, Identity, and Nationhood: "Then and Now," Wednesday, September 27, 6 p.m., Exhibit Hall, Chicago Cultural Center. This discussion explores the parallels in Ukrainian art and culture during two pivotal eras, the effects of the nation's recently achieved sovereignty and dueling influences from Western Europe and Russia.
Gallery Talk, Thursday, October 5, 12:15 p.m., Exhibit Hall, Chicago Cultural Center, with Gregory Knight, deputy commissioner/visual arts, Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs.
Special lunchbreak performance, Thursday, October 5, 12:15 p.m., Claudia Cassidy Theater, Chicago Cultural Center. Ukrainian pianist Alex Slobodyanik performs Chopin's Scherzo Op. 10 in B Flat Minor, Lev Revutsky's Five Preludes and Prokofiev's Sonata No. 7.

"Crossroads: Modernism in Ukraine, 1910-1930" is accompanied by a four-color catalogue, which will be available for sale at the Shop at the Cultural Center. A complimentary brochure will be on hand at the exhibition. Teachers' materials are offered for local educators, and school groups are encouraged to visit (call 312-744-8032 to make arrangements).

Following its premiere in Chicago, the exhibition will travel to The Ukrainian Museum in New York. After concluding its American tour, the exhibition will be displayed at the National Art Museum of Ukraine in Kyiv.

Expanded hours for summer at the Chicago Cultural Center began on April 1 and run through October 31. Viewing hours for "Crossroads: Modernism in Ukraine, 1910-1930" at the Chicago Cultural Center are Mondays through Thursdays, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Fridays, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturdays, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sundays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The Chicago Cultural Center is closed on holidays.

In Chicago, the exhibition is sponsored in part by generous support from UA-TV, LLC, Selfreliance Ukrainian American Federal Credit Union, The Heritage Foundation at First Security Federal Savings Bank, Hyatt International Corp. and an anonymous donor. This exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and Humanities. Additional support has been provided by the Mission of Ukraine to the United Nations, the Embassy of Ukraine in Washington and the Consulate General of Ukraine in Chicago.

Exhibitions and related educational programming presented by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs at the Chicago Cultural Center are partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency. Transportation support is provided by United, official airline for the Chicago Cultural Center.

The Chicago Cultural Center is located at 78 E. Washington St. "Crossroads" is on view in the fourth floor Exhibit Hall.

For more information about "Crossroads: Modernism in Ukraine, 1910-1930," call 312-744-6630 or visit www.chicagoculturalcenter.org. For information about the Chicago Sister Cities International Program visit www.chicagosistercities.com.

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