We invite you to the opening of the solo exhibition of artist Lucy Ivanova "Warm Optics", which will take place on March 21 at 6:30 PM at the Artsvit gallery. The project was created in collaboration with The Naked Room gallery and will last until June 14, 2025.
"Warm Optics" is an attempt to explore how artistic vision changes through the experience of war, emigration, and motherhood in an unstable world. Lucy Ivanova's works touch on the theme of everyday life, which has changed and is already perceived through the prism of experiences, losses, and a new view of reality. The exhibition can be conditionally divided into three parts: the so-called "Dnieper period" (2017-2022), works from the times of full-scale war, and a new visual language.
The works of the Dnieper period reflect the initial stage of the development of Lucy's painting practice, in which the urban environment of the Dnieper became a source of inspiration, and she herself was formed as an artist. Made in the technique of oil painting, her works combine elements of figurativeness and abstraction, where urban scenes and simple everyday objects dissolve in the material, creating an atmosphere of private moments and memories.
Next come the works created during the first months after the beginning of the Russian invasion. Chamber landscapes and portraits of townspeople, painted directly in the Dnieper, reflect both the usual comfort and fear intertwined in the conditions of war. A separate series is “Warm Optics”, in which the artist works with photographs taken through a thermal imager, creating a new type of view of her native land, combining a technical tool with emotional perception.
The exhibition also explores how motherhood has changed the artist’s practice. Lyusya depicts not only the observation of family moments, but also creates new images that combine elements of fantasy, tenderness and tension. The exhibition is not afraid to reveal the complexities of motherhood in times of war, where playfulness and seriousness are combined in a unique artistic expression.
This project is not only a kind of turn in time and space for Lucy Ivanova, a return to the place where her creative path began and a look at what it is like now, but also an invitation to see and rethink how contemporary art can reflect life experiences in times of uncertainty and catastrophe.
WHEN: March 21, at 18:30
WHERE: Artsvit gallery, Dnipro, Krutohirnyi Uzviz (Descent), 21A. Entrance through sliding doors from Uspenska Square
FREE ENTRANCE
Curator: Lizaveta German and Maria Lanko
Desing: 3Z Studio
