The large-scale exhibition "INDEPENDENT. Nezalezhni. More Than Sculpture" has opened at Art Ukraine Gallery in Kyiv, dedicated to the freedom of Ukrainian art. The project brings together more than 20 artists from different generations, with a special focus on the works of the world-renowned avant-garde artist Alexander Arkhipenko. The exhibition was initiated and curated by the gallery's founder, Natalya Zabolotna, who defined the project's concept as a conversation about "independence" — not only in the historical or social sense, but above all as the artist's right to their own language, freedom of form, and the ability to change established rules.
The Idea: Independence as the Right to One's Own Language
According to the curator, the exhibition is conceived as a statement that culture is what makes a country more than just a territory. "A country without culture is merely a territory, and a territory is quite easy to conquer. Ukraine is invincible: for we are a country of high artistic style, the quintessence of a cultural-civilizational genetic code," Natalya Zabolotna emphasized. In her words, the "independents" are those who "came into being despite everything and continue to make the history of Ukrainian art," remaining free and unconquered.
More Than Sculpture: A Multimedia Exhibition
The project deliberately goes beyond the classical notion of sculpture: bronze and stone here are combined with painting, graphics, ceramics, mirror surfaces, art objects, and installations. One of the largest works is Artem Volokityn's painting installation "Pisliaobraz. Vidskok" (Afterimage. Rebound), measuring 500 by 500 centimeters and consisting of seven fragments that extend beyond the usual plane of a picture and interact with the gallery space. In Nadiia Polevykh's works, mirror surfaces literally draw the viewer into the piece, while Elena Shibunova, in her "Garden" series, uses plaster, construction mesh, cartridge case imprints, and old embroidered towels to reinterpret the Ukrainian image of the Tree of Life.
Arkhipenko in Kyiv: A Rare Chance to See the Avant-Garde in Person
A separate part of the exhibition is a private collection of works by Alexander Arkhipenko — a Kyiv-born avant-garde sculptor who became one of the reformers of modern sculpture. His experiments with form, volume, and void, according to the organizers, had a significant impact on the development of 20th-century world art, and the exhibition offers a rare opportunity in Kyiv to see these works in person. At the same time, the contemporary participants of INDEPENDENT are presented not as direct followers of Arkhipenko, but as artists who inherited his key principle — the freedom to change the rules and independently define the boundaries of art. The exhibition features works by Vasyl Korchev, Lyudmyla Misk, Mykola Malysko, Yulia Belyaeva, Nazar Bilyk, Aleksey Vladimirov, Anastasia Poderevyanskaya, Aleksandr Sukholit, Nadiia Polevykh, Mykola Kryvenko, Elmira Shemsidinova, Volodymyr Sain, Volodymyr Say, and other artists.
The Project's Charitable Dimension
The exhibition also has a charitable component: part of the project is dedicated to supporting the fighters of the Third Army Corps and Ukrainian children wounded as a result of the war. Ukrainian sculptor and serviceman Volodymyr Say presented the large-scale composition "Storm" — a symbolic army of Ukrainian warrior-defenders — which was put up as a charity lot in support of the Third Army Corps, whose ranks, according to the gallery, the artist himself defends Ukraine in.
