STATE BANK AND ART: the beauty of Oleg Tistol’s stereotypes
The collecting of art objects by banks has a long history, pursuing different goals – investing, creating and maintaining the desired image, fostering corporate values in the team. The rule of one of the world’s leading corporate collectors, Deutsche Bank, is “Art works”.
The names that appear in these collections are carefully selected among the best, so that in ten and fifty years they do not lose their relevance. In Ukraine, the history of corporate collections is still very new, but more and more companies, including state-owned ones, are already joining it, opening their premises for artists and cultural expansion.
The exhibition of one of the most famous masters, Oleg Tistol, will be held in the building of the Kiev bank.
Oleg Tistol is one of the key representatives of the “new wave” in Ukrainian art and one of those who continue to experiment, look for new themes and techniques. At the same time, the artist remains faithful to the principle of “fighting for the beauty of the stereotype”, proclaimed at the beginning of his career. A champion of European values and the European path of the country, the artist says, “Over the course of 30 years with observing the development of contemporary art in Ukraine, it is easy to come to the conclusion that the only product of a sufficiently high level, which invariably ended up for export, were works of contemporary art. The artists remained stubborn and fanatical “shadowy smugglers”, adequately representing the culture of their state on various world platforms. Perhaps, now is the time to step out of the shadows”.
Europe is the first large personal exhibition of Tistol in Kiev in many years, which has been awaited for a long time.
“The exhibition of paintings in the premises of a bank is a challenge, that not every artist and curator can cope with. Marble walls, crystal lamps, complex architecture, layering in the interior of traces of different eras. However, Tistol accepts this challenge and brilliantly fills the space, emphasizing its essence, with its inherent subtle irony,” notes Marianna Djulay, the curator of the project.
The artist has a tendency to analyze stereotypes and play with clichés. His works celebrate aesthetic hooliganism, and at the same time – sincerity. And thoroughness is combined with lightness of gestures and constant search.
This exhibition is an excursion into the history and modern life of the country, its priorities and values, through the prism of the artist’s vision. The quintessence of his optics, that image of Europe and Ukraine, as its full-fledged component, which Tistol sees, reflects and promotes in every possible way.
The exhibition is open for visitors until 24.12 at the address Ukraine, Kiev, 127 Antonovicha street, Ukreximbank
