LESYA KHOMENKO / THE EYEWITNESS
30.04 - 13.05.2009

Lesya Khomenko presents a different type of the World War II hero based on her grandfather's recollections

Kyiv, April 30, 2009, 19:00. - The Collection Gallery presents "The Eyewitness" - a new painting project by Lesya Khomenko, member of the REP group.

Lesya Khomenko, artist: "The Eyewitness is a project about my grandfather Stepan Repin who was in the Second World War, went on recon missions and made maps. I am using his recollections to paint my "battle scenes" where my grandfather is the main character.

I select from my grandfathers memoirs the key points where he faced death and make monumental paintings that are very heroic and ambiguous at the same time for me.

I depict a different type of hero. I also use social realism to show how I feel about history. With time, the human memory keeps only the major events, erasing the details. History often uses manipulative mechanisms that rely on the colorful details. I remove all unnecessary things from the scene and make my own manipulation tools "transparent".

There is danger on my paintings, but there is no image of an enemy. I rely on real events while "manipulating". To me, this project is a chance to expand on and revisit the past.

I present a very personal, subjective viewpoint of history and maintain that it may be nothing, but subjective.

I want to raise a question whether my generation has the right for history that it has not personally experienced. Do stereotype images that impede global integration and search of a new identity need to be revisited?

Lesya Khomenko announced herself as an original artist back in 2004. As a leading member of the REP group, she has been especially consistent since 2004-2005. The first keynote of her works is monumentality about human beings, the other one is recourse to interactive media which was successfully demonstrated at the first REP exhibitions at the Center of Contemporary Art, at personal exhibitions at "Art Arsenal" (Walruses, 2007), Regina in Moscow 92006) etc. Her projects have successfully toured Europe, including "The Art World" at Feinkost Gallery in Berlin (Germany), "The Letter" under Biennale "Art-Novich" in England and "Poem About Inner Sea" under REP project and Mark Teachner "We are Ukrainians, What Else" at Venetian Biennale in 2007.

The exhibition will be officially open on Thursday, April 30, at 19:00 at Collection Gallery at 8, Pankivska str. The exhibition lasts till May 13. The author will present her own "tour" of her works to the viewers and media during opening reception.

For accreditation and additional information, please refer to Roksolana Avramenko, Collection Gallery at (044) 287 37 66(62) or (067) 245-19-15, E-mail: roksolyana.avramenko@gmail.com