The importance of «interprint» in the development of Ukrainian graphics

Abstract

The article studies Ukrainian graphic art of the late twentieth century, undergoing changes caused by political events in Eastern Europe. Two iconic exhibitions became the turning point for native art as they revealed the Ukrainian graphic arts, and broke through the "iron" curtain of the totalitarian regime. The ideological seclusion of the USSR focused solely on the themes celebrating the life of a happy worker, peasant, or intellectual, did not let the works of another content to be displayed in public. Moreover, all areas of art creativity were controlled by the Union of Artists of Ukraine, headed by people with party membership cards. This prohibition referred especially to works of national-patriotic, conceptual, abstract, or surrealistic nature. The idea to hold an international exhibition that would present Ukrainian graphics to the world arose in the heads of a few independent politicians. At the state level, that idea certainly did not gain any support, but some people contributed to its implementation. Interestingly, the first exhibition of graphics "Interdruk'90" took place just before the collapse of the USSR, and the second, "Interdruk'92", in an already independent Ukraine. The exhibitions showed a high level of Ukrainian graphics, which equaled and sometimes surpassed the works of foreign masters. Among the exhibited art were works by such masters of national graphics as Valeriy Demya- nyshyn, Oleg Denysenko, Mykhaylo Alexandrov, Volodymyr Gumenny, Konstantin Kalinovich, Ivan Kravetz, Pavlo Makov, Mychaylo Moskal, Volodymyr Pinigin, Igor Podolchak, Yuriy Pshenychny, Roman Romanyshyn, Yevgen Ravsky, Alexander Aksinin et al. Their works reflected the whole spectrum of current life themes, which were seen and interpreted in new ways, imaginative technical and formal solutions. Most of those national artists had been exhibited abroad and won the most prestigious graphic contests, yet they were little known in their Motherland. On the other hand, the Ukrainian audience got a chance to learn about the works and achievements of graphic artists from France, Great Britain, Argentina, Korea, Israel, Spain, Holland, Poland, Canada, Russia, Japan, Italy and other countries. We may state that those two exhibitions of printmaking art opened the way to the development of graphics in independent Ukraine.