From the Series “Giants”

Lesia Khomenko (1980, Kyiv) is the author of paintings, installations, performances, and videos. She graduated from The National Academy of Visual Arts and Architecture in Ukraine, then became a resident of the Contemporary Art Centre in the Kyiv Mohyla Academy (2005-2006) and the International Art Program in Leipzig (2008). Lesia is also a co-founder and member of the REP art group and curatorial and activist interdisciplinary group Hudrada (Artistic committee in Ukrainian). In 2009 and 2011, she was on a short list for PinchukArtCentre Prize. A year later, she got nominated for Future Generation Art Prize and the Malevich Artistic Award.

In her paintings, Lesia Khomenko questions the role of a Human captive in post-Soviet space, deep-rooted in architecture and the general scenery. The reflections on the Soviet past, Socialist realism, visual polemics about the myth of happiness in work – “Giants” (2006), “Congenial Work” (2011) — today are seen differently due to the war and the perspective of Ukraine’s rebuild in the future.

Photo: Oleksandr Popenko © Mystetskyi Arsenal