We invite you to the opening of the exhibition by Kharkiv artist Olia Fedorova, "Love | Rage", which will take place on 13 October at 6:30 p.m. at the Artsvit Gallery. The project will run until 13 January 2024.
The project combines the artist's textual and visual-poetic practices, which began at the start of the full-scale Russian invasion and continue to this day. It is about experiencing strong emotions caused by the war.
The exhibition is based on two series and several individual works. The artist's works contain a large number of texts with different moods: from therapeutic meditations and affirmations to outbursts of pure hatred, from life-affirming prayers to desperate curses. Olya also demonstrates how these emotions can quickly flow into one another. With this contrast, which is quite typical of our folk spells, where humble Christian motifs are mixed with rather harsh pagan ones, the artist draws a parallel with contemporary realities, the emotions and feelings that millions of Ukrainians have faced. It is about understanding, compassion, unity in shared pain, the heaviness of which is transformed into strength. It is about the natural need to release adrenaline, about the rage that fuels the fight against the enemy, the fight for life.
‘Rage is a sword, and love is armour. But love can also become a sword — against those who have no love, or are simply afraid to love. In that case, rage becomes armour. And it seems to me that in order to win all our wars, we need both — sword and armour, love and rage,’ — Olia Fedorova
WHEN: 13 October 2023, at 18:30
WHERE: Artsvit Gallery, Dnipro, Krutohirnyy Uzviz 21a. Entrance through the central door from the side of Krutohirnyy Uzviz
FREE ENTRY
Design: Alla Sorochan
Photo: Oleg Samoilenko
Olia Fedorova. Born 1994 in Kharkiv. Multidisciplinary conceptual artist who works with performance, photography, video and visual poetry.
In her practice Olia works with meanings and connotations by studying the mechanics and problematics of their (trans)formation using methods of performative intervention, observation and writing. After the beginning of russian full-scale invasion to Ukraine she also started to work as an art activist and publicist to promote Ukrainian culture abroad and raise awareness among foreign audiences about russian crimes and the resistance of Ukrainian people. Since summer 2022 she has been living and continuing her practice in Graz, Austria.
Laureate of “Non Stop Media VIII” contemporary art festival (Kharkiv, 2016); winner of the contemporary visual art contest of Nathan Altman (Vinnytsia, 2017); finalist of the contest for young Ukrainian artists MUKHI 2017 (Kyiv); Finalist of the Ukrainian Biennale of Young Art (Kharkiv, 2019).
Had solo shows in Kharkiv, Kyiv, Dnipro, Odesa, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Torino (Italy) and Graz (Austria). Participates in residencies and group projects in Ukraine, Poland, Germany, Austria, United Kingdom, Spain, Norway, Argentina, Japan, South Korea, USA and more.
