Role and Functions of the Art Criticism in Kyiv Contemporary Art World in the Late 20<sup>th</sup>- Early 21<sup>st</sup> Century

Abstract

The history of the art criticism origin and development testifies / shows the significant influence of the new art practices emergence and socio-cultural transformations on the art criticism changes, on the evolution of its concept and functional specificity. Similar transformations are noticeable in the Ukrainian visual art space of the late XX - early XXI century. In the new socio-political circumstances, along with the transformations of artistic life, the modification of the media, the art criticism also undergoes certain changes; these facts encourage us to study it much deeper, particularly to comprehend its status in the sociocultural space. It was discovered that during the late XX - early XXI centuries the art criticism is undergoing significant transformations caused by local and global factors. Among the global factors that influenced the change of epistemological principles / attitudes (change in the interpretation of truth, its criteria and reliability of knowledge) are the aesthetic guidelines of postmodernism. They, together with the development of the multimedia technologies, the Internet lead to the blurring of boundaries between the subjects of the artistic process and to the change of the relationship between critics, artists and viewers. Local factors influencing the activities of art criticism are active involvement in artistic life and the growing role of art market representatives, who perform functions related to criticism, but, in contrast, are guided by business rules and interests. It encourages critics to expand the boundaries of their activities, turning to curatorial and editorial work, which partially ensures the importance preservation of their role in the sociocultural sphere. However, the “partylike” existence principle of the artistic environment in Ukraine, marketing factors and the laws of the art market cancel the growing importance of sociocultural influence of unbiased, professional criticism. A significant reduction of serious unbiased materials expressing the independence of their authors (thorough analysis and professional interpretation of artistic processes) leads to the active filling of this niche with amateur publications and non-critical genres, art journalism, which creates controversy / contradictory in treating criticism as a definitive key to the artistic practices validity.