Oil Painting 1980-2009 www.artlevchenko.com
www.artlevchenko.com photo by Yaroslav Shapochka 2003
INDIVIDUALITY REJECTED BY THE SYSTEM….VLADYMYR LEVCHENKO In this place I do not want to express an opinion either for or against State patronage of the arts, but merely to point out that WHAT KIND of State rules over us must depend partly on the prevailing intellectual atmosphere: meaning, in this context, partly on the attitude of writers and artists themselves, and on their willingness or otherwise to keep the spirit of liberalism alive. G. Orwell It seems that any phenomenon in our life and society can be studied (depicted or described) by means of system analysis. As we know, for this purpose elements and links between them are identified within the systems, and it may turn out that some of the elements may relate to different structures. Since systems describe separate aspects of social life which should be looked at in terms of its progressive motion, with time the majority of them may change the number of elements and the nature of links between them. In other words, systems may add one elements and reject (fully or partially) other ones. Paradoxical as it may seem, the rejected elements may create separate new structures. Let’s illustrate this theoretical provision with particular examples from creative biography of some architects who, in addition to their main job, practice painting professionally. I would like to tell about the art of Vladimir Levchenko. He was born in 1941 and graduated from the art school and the architectural faculty of Mukhina Higher Arts and Crafts College in Leningrad. In Russia . Since 1967 he works in Kyiv. Levchenko is the author of a number of projects; he personally created many interiors of buildings in Kyiv. His most significant recent works are the Moscow Restaurant (1980), the swimming pool of the Republican Water Rescue Center (1988) and the Theater of Drama and Comedy. Painting is another Vladimir’s long-term passion. I saw his works first in 1960s and follow them since then. Of course, at that time they were not exhibited in public and could be seen only in basement studio workshops. Vladimir worked hard experimenting with some motifs again and again. The artist’s rejection from the architectural system began when he was working at a design organization and had to take part in implementation of assignments which were of no interest to him and alien to his creative nature. Having left the job at the institute, he worked for many organizations on the freelance terms. His avant-garde fine art paintings could not be demonstrated at public exhibitions during the stagnation period and waited for the better times, so to say, remaining in the underground. In the recent years the paintings by Vladimir Levchenko were exhibited and sold at foreign exhibitions in Poland, France, Belgium, Canada, Italy, to say nothing of such exhibitions as “Myth-1” (1989) at the Moscow Manege Exhibition Hall, “Pogliad-2” in Kyiv etc. If I am asked to characterize his works in brief, I would emphasize unusual motifs, diverse coloring and peculiar vision of an expressive and rather tough form… ALEXANDER GORBIK Architect, Ph.D. Article for international magazine Architecture in Ukraine #5 1991
You are beautiful , 2008 , canvas , 145x120 cm 57x48 inch #1
Come here my darling , 2008,canvas,145x120cm 57x48 inch #2
Family , 2008,canvas,145x120cm 57x48 inch #3
Fattened by M. Jackson, Snickers and Mars‌ 1993, canvas/oil, 100x93 cm, 40x37 inch #4
Infants. 1995, canvas/oil, 210x160 cm ,83x63 inch #5
Flying with the Brushwood of Thoughts. 1992, canvas/oil, 100x95cm , 40x38 inch #6
Yakut Vagabond in the Expectation of Perestroika Talks to the Sumerian King. 1983, canvas/oil, 100x100 cm , 40x40 inch #7
The Day before Christmas. 1994, canvas/oil, 90x95cm , 38x35 inch #8
Radioactive Spring. 1991, canvas/oil, 100x100cm , 40x40 inch #9
Return of the prodigal husband , 2000, 145x120 cm , 57x47 inch # 10
Spiritual Hunger. 1988, canvas/oil, 100x100 cm,40x40 inch # 11
City market, 1997, canvas/oil, 100x100cm, 40x40 inch # 12
Drinking Tomato Juice in the Bathroom. 1989, canvas/oil, 100x100cm, 40x40 inch # 13
Intensive Search for Own Culture. 1989, canvas/oil, 100x100cm, 40x40 inch # 14
Kherson Market. 1993, canvas/oil, 100x85cm, 40x34 inch # 15
Flying Away to Paradise. 1993, canvas/oil, 100x95 cm, 40x38 inch # 16
Scythian queen paints horses, 2000, 165x120 cm, 57x47inch # 17
The First Concert in the ,,Tube,,. 2000, canvas/oil, 120x110 cm ,48x43 inch # 18
Searching for Individuality or the Tormenting of the Bird of Art. 1965, canvas/oil, 100x80 cm , 40x32 inch # 19
Leningrad, Fontanka Street. 1980, canvas/oil, 90x80 cm , 36x32 inch # 20
Death Speech of Yukio Mishima. 1991, canvas/oil, 80x60 cm , 31x24 inch # 21
Partition of Property. 1992, canvas/oil, 100x95cm,40x37inch # 22
September 11. 2000, oil 165x120cm ,57x47inch # 23
Hunting. 1993, canvas/oil, 80x60cm, 31x23 inch # 24
Family ,1985 , canvas/oil, 90x90cm,36x36 inch # 25
Queen Olga , 2000, oil 165x120cm ,57x47inch # 26
Vikings, 2001, oil,165x120 cm, 64x47inch # 27
Leaseholders. 1998, canvas/oil, 100x100 cm,40x40 inch # 28
New Russian homeland in search of, 2000, canvas/oil, 100x100 cm,40x40 inch # 29
Discovery of America. 1992, canvas/oil, 120x110cm,47x43inch # 30
San-Petersburg (Leningrad) Russia 1960 first year student www.artlevchenko.com levchenco_m@ukr.net