IVAN MARCHUK

Stop the villains… 2022

 

30х26 cm.

 

Acrylic

 

«Give me a thousand years – I will paint the sky and I will not repeat myself!». Ivan Marchuk

 

This is the truth. Unique and profound in his genius, the Ukrainian Ivan Marchuk and his work, which was specially created for the «ArtArmor» project. This is a unique self-portrait of the artist, which is created with an exceptional technique of applying acrylic on fabric. The work is made on the reverse side of the armor plate, which makes it even more extraordinary in our collection. Еntanglement of thread strokes of different thicknesses creates at first glance a quite simple, but at the same time deep and light image. White on black grabs attention and pierces into the heart, reminding of the radiance of goodness that carries the image of a Ukrainian warrior. This light protects the truth and dispels the darkness of evil. The spirituality of Ukraine, its national art, the living genius of which is Ivan Marchuk, is a symbol of the national spiritual shield. Therefore, the work of «Stop the villains…» is armor within the armor, a synergy of the unity of the spiritual and the material – an artistic talisman and armor plate.

 

Ivan Marchuk (born in 1936) — contemporary Ukrainian artist, Honored Artist of Ukraine, laureate of the Shevchenko National Prize, and member of the Golden Guild of The International Academy of Contemporary Art in Rome.
The British newspaper The Daily Telegraph ranked him as one of the Top 100 living geniuses (72nd place) in 2007.
In 2016, he was awarded the Order of Freedom for his significant personal contribution to state building, socio-economic, scientific-technical, and cultural-educational development of Ukraine, significant labor achievements, and high professionalism.
The artist created more than 5000 paintings. For half a century of creative activity, he had more than 150 monographic and 50 collective exhibitions. His works are in museums on five continents.