“Close”. Project by Taras Bychko in the Mala Gallery of the Mystetskyi Arsenal

The Laboratory of Contemporary Art “Mala Gallery of the Mystetskyi Arsenal” presents the exhibition project “Close” by photographer Taras Bychko. Project reveals the experience of conditions faced by a person after learning about cancer and during treatment.

The project will start on February 8 and will last until April 6.

In the essay Illness as a Metaphor, Susan Sontag says that a person is born with two “passports” — to the realm of the healthy and to the realm of the sick. And while we all strive for the former, we inevitably find ourselves in the latter. Experiencing a global pandemic, the fear of the invisible but deadly illness became even more acute and led to isolation, mistrust and the creation of myths that our consciousness produce as a defense mechanism. On the other hand, the fear of illness brings you closer, gives you the opportunity to look deeper into the environment, reconsider life anew and accept the very being-in-the-world.

In his project “Close” Taras Bychko captures his experiences of fear of illness because of images that intuitively resonate with his feelings: vulnerability, fear and loneliness. Photographer leaves documentalistics, giving space for the sensual, snatching from the mundane things that in a state of anxiety turn into chimeras. He wanders the illness world, still full of taboos. With his works, the author confronts us with the painful flow of life, which you feel most significantly during the illness.

Taras Bychko is a photographer from Lviv, working in the genre of documentary and street photography. Member of the international street group “Little Box Collective” and co-founder of the group “Ukrainian Street Photography”, whose activities are aimed at the development and promotion of street and documentary photography in Ukraine. Ambassador to Ukraine of the Fujifilm brand. Taras is also the winner and finalist of the international competitions “Photographer of the Year of Ukraine 2016”, Leica street photo, Miami Street Photo Festival, Documentary Family Awards. Published in LFI, Burn Magazine, National Geographic, Lens Culture, Bird in Flight, Reporters, The Village Ukraine and others.