Frieze London 2026

For Frieze London 2026 Voloshyn Gallery presents Nikita Kadan’s “Night Kyiv”, as part of the fair’s Curated section. The project reflects the realities of contemporary Ukrainian pop culture and its physical manifestations within society, as the conditions of war dictate new rules for every sector of civic life. By striving to accommodate all, Ukraine now faces an urgent question: how to build an environment for people with inclusive needs, a concern that directly affects every sector of social life. It is this theme, and the question of what constitutes the new norm for Kyiv and for Ukraine as a whole, that currently occupies Nikita Kadan's practice.

The large-scale Night During the Day artwork depicts a wartime rave, a space of emotional release, a hub of support for veterans, and a point of immersion in contemporary culture. Kyiv stands as one of the world's capitals of electronic music, defined by its vibrant Eastern European underground scene, however due to strict military curfew, any semblance of nightlife has to end before 1 AM, hence the artwork’s title. Even amid war, relentless missile strikes and disrupted communications, people continue to organize parties, as far as circumstances allow. The rave becomes more than entertainment: it is a means of moral recovery and rest, offering, against a backdrop of constant emotional and physical exhaustion, the possibility of stepping away, if only for a few hours, from the events that surround daily life. Foreign artists perform in clubs, and some tourists still travel to Kyiv for its techno scene, undeterred by the danger. Initiatives led by Ukrainian event organizers actively support veterans of the Russo-Ukrainian war and cultivate inclusive spaces within the events.

The A Treatise on Mannequins I sculpture at the center of the booth depicts the human loss caused by military action. Bodies of soldiers and civilians, marked by war, are forced to adapt to a new reality, while society as a whole comes together in support. Nikita Kadan approaches war not only as an act of destruction but also as an act of creation at its most rudimentary level, in which bodies, environments, and the norms that govern them are continuously reassembled from what has survived, by the hands of those who were never given the authority to do so. The project addresses two interconnected dimensions of this process: the physical transformation of the body and the formation of a new social space around it. In this work, the artist draws on Bruno Schulz’s A Treatise on Mannequins I, published in 1934, which explores the possibility of a second act of creation: the making of new forms from cheap, discarded materials.

Here, it becomes an image of a second birth, an extension of the human body in another material, made by other hands and under conditions the person themselves did not determine. Such a figure is condemned to suffer, as a form imposed by force carries within it a pain carved into its very matter. Yet the sculpture calls this inevitability into question. The body is reconstructed twice. First, war does so, reassembling it from whatever materials are at hand, without consent. Then, people take over. Society builds an environment for those whose needs were previously overlooked. The material remains the same: whatever is available. The difference lies in who gets to choose. Inclusion, too, is a second genesis—one that is created rather than endured.

The three Sky charcoal drawings depict the Kyiv night sky, usually a space of calmness, violently lit up by russian attacks. The silhouettes of buildings stand as if resigned to their fate. The sky, however, remains indifferent. It is bound to be cleared eventually, allowing nothing to remain, becoming serene once again. It stands in direct opposition to the body, which retains the traces of what has happened to it and remains forever marked. The memory of what has passed through the sky must be created by people, as the space itself preserves nothing.

The text-works on the opposite wall, bring popular slogans into the space of the booth, addressing the viewer directly. Pleading for an understanding and calling for action.

October 14: 11am - 7pm (invitation only)

October 15: 11am – 1pm (members and invitation only preview), 1pm – 5pm (general admission)

October 16-17: 11am – 7pm

October 18: 11am – 6pm