Artem Volokitin
Images
Overview
Artem Volokitin is one of the brightest and most influential representatives of Ukraine’s new generation of contemporary artists.
Born in 1981 in Chuhuiv, Kharkiv region, Volokitin graduated from the Kharkiv State Academy of Arts and Design in 2005. In response to the turmoil and violence that erupted in Ukraine following Russia’s annexation of Crimea in early 2014, Volokitin started to create works that depict images of violent explosions. The artist fled Ukraine when the war started in March 2022 and is now adapting to a new life in Potsdam, Germany, with his family of five children.
With light being central to his artistic expression, his new series is a continuity of his previous works with nuanced developments that reflect his recent traumatic experiences. In the paintings, Volokitin composes Baroque-inspired, sculptural clouds to represent a translucent, dynamic barrier that is pierced by bold, electrifying light beams. The direct dazzling light rays represent the artist’s determined search for hope against a backdrop of uncertainty, fear and sadness. Employing the canvas as the frame that refracts light boundlessly, Volokitin visualises his self-reflexive journey that accumulates energy and continual tension.
As a prominent figure of the Ukrainian Pavilion at the 2015 Venice Biennale, Volokitin was the first artist to receive the PinchukArtCentre Main Prize, an award for early-career Ukrainian artists in 2009. A master of painting with light and shadow, he was nominated for the Future Generation Art Prize in 2010 and completed an internship in the London studio of Antony Gormley that same year. He has exhibited at the PinchukArtCentre, Kyiv; Saatchi Gallery, London; Ludwig Museum, Budapest; the Ukrainian Institute of America, New York. Volokitin’s works are part of numerous private and public collections in Europe and America.
Selected Works
Exhibitions
News
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THESE UNIQUE MUSEUMS AND GALLERIES ARE AMONG ASIA'S MOST UNDERRATED CULTURAL DESTINATIONS
May 31, 2023Art enthusiasts and travellers both domestic and foreign flock to the major art events in Asia throughout the year, with art fairs such as Art...Read more -
Queenie Rosita Law on Championing Central and Eastern European Art in Asia
April 20, 2023Director and founder of Q Art Group, Queenie Rosita Law shares her ambitions as a collector in Asia and her experience opening a gallery in...Read more -
11 MUST-SEE EXHIBITIONS DURING HONG KONG’S ART BASEL WEEK, FROM RESILIENCE: VOICES OF UKRAINE TO HKWALLS’ STREET ART
March 20, 2023Double Q Gallery is showing works by two displaced Ukrainian artists, Artem Volokitin and Maria Kulikovska, in an exhibition that highlights the war with Russia’s...Read more -
Ukraine 從上蒼與麥田領悟堅靱
March 17, 20232022年2月24日，筆者本來以為又是平常的一天，怎料如常打開社交媒體之後便發現普京已經向烏克蘭宣戰，並派兵全面入侵，試圖以最短時間吞噬烏國。一年後，戰爭不幸地依然持續，亦沒有停火的跡象。從事藝術行業的筆者過去不禁自問:藝術到底在世界戰火不熄的時刻有何作用?藝術無法轉化成支持前線的資金或物資；同時，在局勢緊張之際以藝術表達和平的理念又會被視為不切實際。不過正因為俄烏戰爭，藝術圈過去一年開始正視並留意中東歐的當代藝術家；國際藝術界積極地以不同商業和美術館展覽延續烏克蘭文化，為藝術家爭取更多機會，將他們的藝術品化為支持家國的動力。 在俄烏戰爭持續超過300天後，香港終於看到烏克蘭藝術家的蹤影。過去一直熱衷於支持中東歐藝術的香港企業家羅君兒 (Queenie Rosita Law) 除了在匈牙利布達佩斯創辦了非牟利展覽空間 Q Contemporary，去年也在香港開設了Double Q 畫廊，為大眾提供一個探索和認識中東歐當代藝術的國際平台。其畫廊今年度三月舉辦雙人展覽「堅韌:烏克蘭之聲」，旨在為兩位因戰爭而流離失所的當代烏克蘭藝術家 Artem Volokitin 和 Maria Kulikovska 提供發聲平台。Read more -
Painting the Pain: in Conversation with Ukrainian Artists Maria Kulikovska and Artem Volokitin
March 7, 2023Ahead of the Resilience: Voices of Ukraine exhibition at Double Q Gallery, two Ukrainian artists talk about seeing the world through the prism of art...Read more
