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Mikhailo Deyak Imaginary
15 December 2016 —
22 January 2017

selected works

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Voloshyn Gallery presents Mikhailo Deyak's solo exhibition "Imaginary", which comprises two sets of works: a series of metal sculpture objects "Flowers" from a "Genesis" series and the works on glass from "Space" series. New artist's work will be presented in the updated gallery space. It is worth mentioning that "Genesis" works are exhibited for the first time on a large scale in Ukraine. Previously a part of the sculptures collection was shown at Scope Basel, Switzerland and Scope Miami Beach, USA.

Space is Deyak's main topic of interest at the moment. It pushes him to experiment, and his search is expressed in different materials such as glass and metal, despite the fact that Mikhailo is known as an expressive painter. Therefore, we have a series of abstract sculptures created in an expressive manner. The expressiveness is not the author's goal in itself, and a new project "Genesis" is rather a means of knowledge which makes the author and the viewer immediately plunge into some questions of the foundation of the universe.

As the artist states, "Genesis is the creation of anything. Metal objects that you can see now may be your portrait or the interpretation of a given situation, transmitted through the prism of my artistic perception. Passing through my attitude, the world takes strange and bizarre forms that I am showing in the exhibition "Imaginary". In the works of "Flowers" presented here, that are the subseries of the main "Genesis" project, I see the flowers, and the audience may see anything that their boundless imagination tells." And indeed, we can also see something vegetal in the outlines of so-called Flowers, but these flowers are more "cosmic", colder, and the bends of metal textures and mirrored surfaces are a mark of our time - rapid, technological and Hi-Tech. Alternatively, we can associate them with the Big Bang, which is the basis of physical and cosmological theory of the Universe evolution. Such versatility of the interpretation of these works is close to everyone, because who has not been thinking about the incomprehensibility of life origins? These artist's works provoke and ask questions, and one finds the answers on their own depending on their ideologies and perceptions.

The "Imaginary" exhibition presents the works from "Space" - laconic and relaxed series of pictures painted on glass. They are mostly minimalist landscapes, but in some places staffage can be found - human figures that further emphasize the grandeur and scale of the landscape. A characteristic sign of this series is the horizon line situated very low in some places, highlighting the depth and immensity of the horizon, and in other works, on the contrary, monumental and silent slopes and hills push a piece of the sky to the very edge of the graphic surface. And sometimes the sky is blurred and not clear, but the author avoids the foreground everywhere, trying to express that way the breadth and vastness of the landscape.

It's no coincidence the artist chose this material - his childhood was spent in the Carpathian region, where the area has been for centuries famous for the originality and abundance of rare artistic techniques such as glass iconography. Perhaps all this is reflected in the author's subconscious - hence the craving for such experiments. 

Complex but clean and direct color, in combination with the glass surface gives a feeling of great depth.

Mikhailo Deyak represents the younger generation of contemporary Ukrainian artists. He works at the intersection of neo-expressionism and minimalism, experiments with materials. The artist is intensively engaged in exhibition activities, and his works are sold at auctions. In 2013, Mikhailo enjoyed his first international success, when his painting "The Stools" was in the top ten of the most valuable paintings of Ukrainian artists, wich have been sold for over a year in public sale. According to Art investment magazine, Mikhailo Deyak has become listed in the top-20 of young contemporary artists of the CIS. Deyak's success and popularity on the global stage are continuing to grow. In 2015, a painting made on a glass piece, one of his Stools series, was purchased at the mentioned auction for $16 000. This sale passed the top estimate and became the highest one Mikhailo has ever experienced at Phillips auction. At the end of 2014, the painting from his series Klitschko Brothers Emotion was sold at the same auction for $11 800. In 2016, Mikhailo Deyak’s individual exhibition was presented at the international art-fair SCOPE Basel featuring two series of works from "Genesis" and "Space" cycles, and the artist participated at Scope Miami Beach representing Voloshyn Gallery. Mikhailo Deyak lives and works in Kyiv, Ukraine.