The Odesa Municipal Museum of Personal Collections named after O.V. Bleshchunov has organized an exhibition honoring the memory of the notable artist Alexander Yosypovych Shkuropat (1964—2008). This year, the artist would have turned 60. His admirers have planned a documentary film titled «Alexander Shkuropat. Revival» and a memorial exhibition of paintings and graphics called «Revival».
Shkuropat began painting at the age of ten while at a children's boarding school in Kiliya. His first solo exhibition took place in Odesa in the summer of 1991, making him the youngest exhibitor at the Odesa Art Museum. Odesa journalist and researcher Eduard Ratushnyak describes Shkuropat's works as «keen observations of the periphery»: «It was clear from his first solo exhibition that he captured the hidden life of a small Ukrainian village. To observe and understand them is to smile, reflect, be surprised, cry, and even burst into laughter».
The significant events of the artist's career included the first International Art Festivals «Classical Avant-Garde and Contemporary Art of Ukraine» held in Kyiv in 1996 and 1997, where Alexander Shkuropat represented his city along with other Odesa masters. Over time, his professional potential was more than sufficient for both large and small collective vernissages. His works have been «remembered» in galleries in Lviv, Zurich, Kyiv, Odesa, Vienna, and more.
At the «Revival» exhibition at the Bleshchunov House, visitors can see paintings from the series «Odesa and Its Surroundings», «City of Fish», «My Ukraine», and «The Abduction of Europe». There are also «home» works left by the master for himself and his family, serving as reminders of the beginning of his artistic journey. These rarities will be shown for the first time.
The organizers have conditionally divided the exhibition into four parts within the museum's communicative-exhibition space «Apartment No. 6»:
- the first hall «Student Life. Painting and Graphics. Exhibition Posters. Mid 80s – 90s of the XX-XXI Century»;
- the second hall «Painting. 80s, 90s of the XX – early XXI Century»;
- glass display «Albums. Photos. Catalogs. Newspapers. Manuscripts»;
- portfolio «Drawings, Engravings. Mid 80s».
In addition to the works from the «Revival» exhibition, the project curators possess over 60 works by Alexander Shkuropat.
The exhibition will be open from October 3 to 27. The exhibition will be available for visitors on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from 11 AM to 5 PM.