Vasyl Yermylov among the "Adepts" of the New Visuality

Abstract

The purpose of the research is to reveal the specifics of the visual language of the artist and designer Vasyl Yermylov, in particular, through the study of his diptych «On the Beach» in interconnection with the artistic and theoretical achievements of Bauhaus artists-innovators. Research methodology. The method of deconstruction, structural, formal-stylistic and comparative analysis is applied in the article. Scientific novelty of the research. The results of the study revealed tendencies for Yermylov to create avant-garde compositions based on a subtle creative dialogue with the theoretical approaches of the Bauhaus representatives, which testifies not only to programmatic and ideological unity, but also to the identity of visual thinking. The method of deconstruction and structural analysis allowed to identify the elements of form as certain structures, deliberately introduced into the work by the master in order to rethink it, create another combination and, thus, the assertion of new content. This is the first time such analysis of Yermylov’s works has been conducted. Conclusions. The results of the analysis of Yermylov’s diptych «On the Beach» testify to the universality of the new visual language, Kwhich has developed in Ukraine despite the attempts to adapt it to the service of the totalitarian regime. Today it is important to testify that Ukrainian artists developed in harmony with their Western counterparts. Ermylov’s work, built on rethinking of different, sometimes opposite approaches to the development of form, which existed at different stages in the Bauhaus, is an example of exceptional design skill of the Kharkiv artist in composing virtuoso compositions from elements of art form. At the same time, the diptych with its laconic expression of the theoretical avant-garde heritage under the «mask» of Dadaism is a tribute to the New Art in the conditions of its prohibition and destruction.