Powerful, dynamic figurative art and contemporary portraiture by Nataliya Zozulya, Graphics and gesso by German artist Viktoria Veil. Sculptures by Alex Lidagovsky.
Nataliya Zozulya
In her evocative paintings Nataliya Zozulya explores the psychology of life in the modern megapolis. She was featured in the programme Sky Portrait Artist of the year 2020.
Nataliya Zozulya started working as a figurative painter when she graduated from the National Academy of Fine Art and Architecture, Kiev, Ukraine, in 1988. Her tutors were one of the leading artists working in socialist realism, and their influence/impact upon her style was so strong that it took her a number of years to distance from it, to develop her own vision and style and to open her mind towards the contemporary art, its conceptualism and philosophy.
During her career as a professional artist she did a number of projects each having a distinct theme running through it.
She always liked to paint portraits. One of the projects that she have done was dedicated to the prominent people of Ukraine, who, having achieved success in their respective careers as doctors, actors, politicians, contributed to the development of the country.
While working on the portraits she became fascinated by John Singer Sargent's oeuvre who isn't widely recognized in former Soviet Union countries. Being an Assistant Professor of Fine Arts department of National Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture in Kiev, Ukraine,she conducted research on him in the Hyman Kreitman Reading Room, Tate Britain and published resultant article in an academic journal.
Having been born in Ukraine, Nataliya was fascinated by her beautiful country's rich folk heritage, from legends to embroidered shirts, painted pottery and tapestry. Using ornaments and decors helped her create a series of works dedicated to Ukrainian folklore.
Another project, that enabled her to explore the freedom of less realistic style while still remaining figurative, was the series on the subtle world of femininity .She tried to convey moving, tender, vulnerable feminine world using colour, light and shade, outlines of women's body.
She was fortunate enough to be able to travel to some distant countries, and one of the biggest revelations for her was how different the light could be in different places. For example in France, Ukraine, we can see hues, tints of colours, but in North Africa, the Mediterranean as well as the Far East the colours are bold, open, loud, wild. This experience triggered a radical change of her palette, she was using bold colours to communicate her perception of new environments.
She found London to be a very graphical city, communicating with form and line rather than colour. She used realistic style to create a group of cityscapes in muffled, reserved colours and tried to portray the city void of the immediate physical presence of people, whose influence though could be felt in every scene.
Nataliya's interest in people ensures that Nataliya is foremost an accomplished portrait painter and this year was participant of SKY Portrait Artist of the year 2020.
Nataliya works in layers and her mastery of oil painting techniques allows her to effortlessly adapt her methods to the demands of the project, ranging from washes, thin layers of paint, to coarse, spontaneous impasto, working with palette knives and, if needed, fingers to enrich the texture of the painting.
During her professional career as an artist, Nataliya held numerous successful solo and group shows in London, Manila, Ankara, Istanbul, Magdeburg, Berlin, USA, Kiev and her painting can be found in private collections internationally. She is a member of Hesketh Hubbard Art Society, Richmond Art Society, The Fountain Gallery Artists Association,Commonwealth of Artists of the Ukraine. She exhibits in Mall Galleries with ROI. Women Art Society, Chelsea art Society.
Alex Lidagovsky
Alex Lidagovsky is a sculptor, working from the paper, plastics and metal.
“The most important thing for me is the Man reflecting this world and the Space that gave birth to it.
“My sculpture is anthropocentric.
“I consider Man in the categories of the Cosmos surrounding him. My sculpture is about the interaction between an object and space.
“Using various formal techniques, I layer by layer explore the space of human reality. "The world given to us in sensations" depends entirely on these very "sensations," which in turn are derived from the human scale, its optics and the rest of the senses, their reflection in our psyche and our thinking.
“In my work, in one form or another, I use the plane because it is infinite. Even when I outline a fragment of the plane, it still extends in my imagination in all directions of infinity. In doing so, I connect the object with the Universe around it.”
Viktoria Veil
Viktoria Veil presents intriguing and detailed graphic artworks inspired by history and contemporary art. Viktoria, born in Kiev, completed her art studies as a master of graphic technology, lithography, engraving, etching, as well as drawing, painting, composition and illustration. She then worked as a lecturer in painting and composition at the Kiev Art Academy. Viktoria Veil has lived as a freelance artist in Germany since 2003 and has been a lecturer at the youth art school since 2013.
She has already exhibited her paintings in Ukraine, Russia, Germany, France, Belgium, Austria and Spain.
Nine small graphics by Viktoria have already been sent into space on a Chinese spaceship "Shenzhou", which can now be admired in the Millennium Tower in Magdeburg.