Vasyl Bazhay
© Vasyl Bazhay
The artist
Vasyl Bazhay’s unique formal language shows the artist, born in Lviv in 1950, as a personality who was always certain of his inner world.
In the period before 1989 – he completed his academic training in Lviv from 1973 to 1979 – he continued to develop his forms in a kind of inner migration. Afterwards he was allowed to show his formal language, which did not conform to the art doctrine of Social Realism. He cites Kandinsky, John Cage, Constructivism and Malevich’s Suprematism as influences.
The basis of his work is the idea of an abstract thing – formulated as paintings, performances and installations, these works by the artist are considered groundbreaking. He also possesses the rare combination of a high degree of recognisability and great richness of variation within his work.
This is probably one of the reasons why US series producers chose his work for the TV series ‘White Collar’ and ‘The Good Wife’.
Vasyl Bazhay has received various art prizes and his works have been exhibited in many countries, shown at art fairs and art events and hang in museums and private collections.
Artwork by Vasyl Bazhay
Vita of Vasyl Bazhay
Vasyl Bazhay is one of the most important representatives of contemporary Ukrainian art. His works impress with their precise artistic technique and their emotionally unique formal language.
Vasyl Bazhay
Born on October 4, 1950
Lives and works in Lviv, Ukraine
Education:
1973 – 1979 Lviv Academy of Arts, Ukraine
Awards:
2001 – Winner of the Ivan Trush Prize for painting
1996 – Winner of the Golden Section Prize (1st prize)
The idea in Bazhay’s art exists on its own; it does not require an explanatory construct. The artist speaks of an obsession that shows itself to him in various manifestations in space, which Vasyl Bazhay implements as a painter and performance artist, as well as in the field of installation.
“There is no point in talking about a project, it should be felt and perceived visually.” Vasyl Bazhay
Museum collections:
Lviv Art Palace, Lviv, Ukraine
Gallery of Arts Lviv, Lviv, Ukraine
City Gallery, Lviv, Ukraine
National Museum, Ukrainian Art of the XX Century, Lviv, Ukraine
National Museum, Kiev, Ukraine
National Union of Artists of Ukraine, Kiev, Ukraine
French Cultural Center, Kiev, Ukraine
Museum of Fine Arts, Khmelnytsk, Ukraine
Korsaks’ Museum of Contemporary Ukrainian Art (KMCUA), Lutsk, Ukraine
Private collections, collections in galleries:
Albert Schiors Gallery, Ghent, Belgium
Shcherbenko Art Centre/ Gallery Bottega, Kiev, Ukraine
Sergey Makhno Architects (private collection), Los Angeles, USA
Centre for Contemporary Art Brama, Kiev, Ukraine
The Sculptura Gallery, Pontiac, Detroit, USA
Zimmerli Art Museum, New Jersey, USA
Karas Gallery, Kiev, Ukraine
Soros Centre for Contemporary Art, Kiev, Ukraine
Zelena Gallery, New York, USA
Dzyga Gallery, Lviv, Ukraine
Ukrainian Institute of America, New York, USA
Ukrainian Museum of Modern Art, Chicago, USA
Projects and group exhibitions
Important projects:
1998 – Co-founder of the charitable Art Fund Dialogues, Lviv, Ukraine.
1997 – 1998 – Founder of the Conceptual Art section of the Ukrainian Artists Association, Kiev, Ukraine
Participation in projects and group exhibitions:
2022
The Promise of Freedom, 7.10. – 9.10.2022, Shcherbenko Art Center, Kiev, Ukraine
2021
Edges of Reality/ Die Grenzen der Realität, 5.6. – 10.10.2021, Ukrainian Pavilion of Nord Art, Kunstwerk Carlshütte, Büdelsdorf, Germany
2018
Ukrainian Still Life, inter-museum project of Karas Gallery, Modern Art Research Institute, national museum Kiev (Picture Gallery), national museum of Folk Culture (Ivan Gonchar’s Museum), Gallery Dzyga, City Gallery Charkiv, Museum of Fine Arts Odessa, NT Art Gallery
2016
The Art of Seeing III, Shcherbenko Art Center, Kiev, Ukraine
Art to see, Shcherbenko Art Center ( cooperation with Art Week Kiev), Kiev, Ukraine
2014
Ukrainian Landscape, Art Arsenal, Karas Gallery, Kiev, Ukraine
2011
Ukrainian ZRIZ, Contemporary Art of Ukraine, Lviv, Ukraine – Lublin, Poland
2010
Vasyl Bazhay, Tiberius Silvashi: Painting, Museum of Contemporary Art, Kiev, Ukraine
Vasyl Bazhay, Tiberius Silvashi: Painting, Lviv Palace of Arts, Lviv, Ukraine
Contemporary Art 2010, 28.1.–7.3.2010, Ukrainian Institute of America, New York, USA
2009 – 2010
Space of existence, Galerie Bottega/Shcherbenko Art Center, Kiev, Ukraine
2009
Habitat, Galerie Bottega/ Shcherbenko, Art Center, Kiev, Ukraine
Art from Private Collections of Members of the Institute, 17.9. – 4.10.2009,
Ukrainian Institute of America, New York, USA
2008
Macbeth 5, Performance (within III Days of Performance Art), Lviv, Ukraine
Potential of Emptiness, Week of Contemporary Art 7, Lviv, Ukraine
Ukrainian Art, 1.5. – 30.9.2008, Ukrainian Institute of America, New York, USA
Contemporary Art from Ukraine, 1.2. – 30.3.2008, Ukrainian Institute of America, New York, USA
2006
Contemporary Art of Ukraine, Ukrainian Institute of America, New York, USA
2005
Ecology ZOO, Gallery Dzyga, Lviv, Ukraine
2004
4th international festival of Contemporary Art, Magdeburg, Germany
Land. Landscape. Water, Galerie Dzyga, Lviv, Ukraine
2003
Invasia, Union of Artists of the Ukraine, Kiev, Ukraine
First Collection, Central House of Artists, Kiev, Ukraine
2002
New Directions, Earth Energie Project, Central House of Artists, Kiev, Ukraine
Noah’s Ark II, Sida Village, Ukraine
Cultural Hero, Festival of Contemporary Art, Kiev-Charkow-Odessa-Lviv, Ukraine
2001
Newest Noah’s Ark, Sida Village, Ukraine
1st International Biennale of Contemporary Art, Gallery Dzyga, Lviv, Ukraine
XX Artists of Ukraine: The End of the Century, national museum, Kiev, Ukraine
Performance Object #7, 1st International Biennale of Contemporary Art Ecology 3000, Lviv, Ukraine
2001 – Dialogue with Citation, Karas Gallery, Kiev, Ukraine
2000
White Transition, National Art Museum, Kiev, Ukraine
Transition, Centre for Contemporary Art Soros at NaUKMA, Kiev, Ukraine
1/2000, Jacques Cartier Gallery, Shawnee, France
New Directions, Central House of Artists, Kiev, Ukraine
Noah’s Ark, im Kontext des Mega-Project’s Art of Ukraine of the twentieth century, Kiev, Ukraine
1999
Heritage (Project by Alexei Litvinenko and Petro Bevza), III International Art Festival in the Ukrainian House, Kiev, Ukraine
XX Artists of Ukraine: The End of the Century, Karas Gallery, Kiev, Ukraine
1998
Minimal Art, Luxembourg The Sources of Freedom, BWA Awangarda Gallery, Wroclaw, Poland
Mega-Project Art of Ukraine of the twentieth century: Participation in the biennale of Non-Figurative Painting as well as solo exhibition within the 3rd International Art Festival, People’s House, Kiev, Ukraine
Gesture And Plastic, Karas Gallery, Kiev, Ukraine
1997
Gang, Bayerischen Landesvertretung, Bonn, Germany
Days of Ukrainian Culture in Switzerland, Konservatorium, Bern, Switzerland
Crossroads: Modern Ukrainian Art at the Turn of the 20th and 21st Centuries/Kreuzungen: Zeitgenössische Kunst an der Wende 20./ 21. Jahrhundert, KHM, Vienna, Austria
Photo-synthesis, Central House of Artists, National Union of Artists of the Ukraine, Kiev, Ukraine
2nd International Art Festival, People’s House, Kiev, Ukraine
1996
Martinez Gallery, Cannes, France
Et cetera + OSPi, Seidel Foundation Representation Ukraine, Kiev, Ukraine
Salon International D’ART Contemporaine, Exhibition palace, Nice, France
Et cetera, National Museum Kiev, Kiev, Ukraine
Et cetera, Stadthaus Mannheim, Exhibition hall, Mannheim, Germany
Non-Constructive Painting 1st International Art Festival, People’s House, Kiev, Ukraine
1995
L’Art Contemporain en Ukraine, Royal Army Museum, Brussels, Belgium
1994
Recontres Franco – Ukrainiennes, Central Artists’ House, Kiev, Ukraine
Through the Limits and the Borders, Hipp Halle Gallery, Gmunden, Austria
1993
European Steppes, Center for Contemporary Art, Uyazdovsky Castle, Warsaw, Poland
1992-1993
New Art after the USSR, Yale University Gallery, Yale, USA
1991
International Symposium of Intellectuals, Project: Neighbors, Pryzmat Gallery, Krakow, Poland
Solo exhibitions
2020
Untitled II, Korsaks’ Museum of Contemporary Ukrainian Art (KMCUA), Lutsk, Ukraine
Forte-2, July 9 – Aug. 1, 2020, Shcherbenko Art Center, Kiev, Ukraine
2019
Piano-Forte IV, Oct. 4-Nov. 3, 2019, Lviv National Art Gallery, Lviv, Ukraine
DE-TERMINO, Karas Gallery, Kiev, Ukraine
2018
Untitled II, Lviv Art Palace, Lviv, Ukraine
2017
Untitled, 1.3.-1.4.2017, Shcherbenko Art Center, Kiev, Ukraine
2B ORNT 2B, Karas Gallery, Kiev, Ukraine
2016
Sacrum III, Karas Gallery, Kiev, Ukraine
Sanctum, Dzyga Gallery, Lviv, Ukraine
Refrigerator, 12.5.-11.6.2016, Shcherbenko Art Center, Kiev, Ukraine
2015
2B ORNT 2B, Lviv Art Palace, Lviv, Ukraine
Intervention, Karas Gallery, Kiev, Ukraine
2014
Recent Works, Oct. 28-Nov. 12, 2014, Gallery Ukrainian Institute of America, New York, USA
Refrigerator, Dzyga Gallery, Lviv, Ukraine
2013
Painting, Karas Gallery, Kiev, Ukraine
Replication, 5.9.-21.9.2013, Bottega Gallery (2008-2014, became Shcherbenko Art Center)/Shcherbenko Art Center, Kiev, Ukraine
Replication, Lviv Art Palace, Lviv, Ukraine
Portrait 2, Dzyga Gallery, Lviv, Ukraine
2012
Forte, 1.3.-20.3.2012, Gallery Bottega/Shcherbenko Art Center, Kiev, Ukraine
Forte, Lviv Art Palace, Lviv, Ukraine Forte, Lviv Art Palace, Lviv, Ukraine
Untitled, Performance 3 from the cycle Fetish, Gallery Labirynt (in the framework of the Culture Night, Noc Kultury), Lublin, Poland
2011
Untitled, Performance 2 from the cycle Fetish, Lviv Palace of Arts (within the festival Days of Performance Art), Lviv, Ukraine
…bazhay…, Lenin Gallery, Zaporizhzhya, Ukraine
2010
Untitled, Performance 1 from the cycle Fetish, Lviv Palace of Arts (within the festival Days of Performance Art), Lviv, Ukraine
Portrait, Dzyga Gallery, Lviv, Ukraine
Skovoroda, Dzyga Gallery, Lviv, Ukraine
Project B-2, Gallery Bottega/Shcherbenko Art Center, Kiev, Ukraine
2009
Paganini, Gallery Bottega/Shcherbenko Art Center, Kiev, Ukraine
REX, Gallery Dzyga, Lviv, Ukraine
MONO, Gallery HudGraph, Kiev, Ukraine
Surface, Karas Gallery, Kiev, Ukraine
2007
Untitled, 13.4.-6.5.2007, Gallery of the Ukrainian Institute of America, New York, USA
Untitled I, Lviv Art Palace, Lviv, Ukraine
Archive, Karas Gallery, Kiev, Ukraine
2006
Works that Nobody has Seen, Karas Gallery, Kiev, Ukraine
2005
Void, Karas Gallery, Kiev, Ukraine
Painting, Lviv Art Palace, Lviv, Ukraine
Painting, Gallery Dzyga, Lviv, Ukraine
2004
Connotations, Karas Gallery, Kiev, Ukraine
2003
Space, Light, Structure, Material, Institute of Modern Ukrainian Art, Chicago, USA
Sublimation of the Painting, Karas Gallery, Kiev, Ukraine
2002
2 and 2, Dzyga Gallery, Lviv, Ukraine
“…”, Karas Gallery, Kiev, Ukraine
AReality, National Art Museum, Kiev, Ukraine
2000
Performance, Center for Contemporary Art (CCA), Kiev, Ukraine
E=mc2 Painting, Karas Gallery, Kiev, Ukraine
DE-TERMINO / antithesis, Lviv Art Palace, Lviv, Ukraine
1999
Performance de…ism, CCA, Kiev, Ukraine
Labyrinth, CCA, Kiev, Ukraine
1998
Performance Macbeth II, Golden Lion (international theatrical festival), Lviv, Ukraine
Labyrinth, Lviv Art Palace, Lviv, Ukraine
Piano-Forte III, Lviv Art Palace, Lviv, Ukraine
1997
Piano-Forte III, Karas Gallery, Kiev, Ukraine
1996
Piano-Forte II, Lviv Art Palace, Lviv, Ukraine
Macbeth (performance), Al Henagar Gallery, Cairo, Egypt
Macbeth (performance), Gallery Lavra, Kiev, Ukraine
1995
Forte–Piano within the first classic music festival Contrasts, Gallery of Fine Arts Lviv, Lviv, Ukraine
Vasyl Bazhay, Gallery Brama, Kiev, Ukraine
1993
Vasyl Bazhay, national museum Kiev, Kiev, Ukraine
1991
Vasyl Bazhay, Gallery Artist’s Unions of Ukraine, Kiev, Ukraine
1989 – 1994
solo exhibitions, Gallery of Fine Arts Lviv, Lviv, Ukraine