Exhibition of works by Eduard Gudzenko (1938-2006)

February 28, March at 17.00 in the halls of the Museum and Exhibition Complex of the Russian Academy of Arts of the Art Gallery of Zurab Tsereteli at the address: st. Prechistenka, house 19 opens an exhibition of Ukrainian artist Eduard Ivanovich Gudzenko (1938-2006). This name is still almost unknown to the Russian audience.

A retrospective exhibition will present more than 70 works. The exhibition consists of several thematic blocks and covers the artist’s work from the early studies of the late 1950s, graphic sketches, to his last paintings of the early 2000s. On meter canvases landscapes and still lifes, portraits, genre scenes and decorative fantasies.

In his works, Eduard Ivanovich turned to various techniques and directions of painting, developing his own style. “For me, art is a game, improvisation,” the artist wrote in his diary. His painting is distinguished by the ease of writing, pasty wide strokes, creating a complex texture and dynamics of the plane. The most innocent, prosaic plots reflecting the life and life of the Ukrainian hinterland are saturated with internal energy and dynamics. The work with color is also interesting. Creating a color-toned solution to the canvas, the master is not afraid to use open paints, often making the center of the composition heavier and darker, surrounding it with bright coloristic spots.

The works “Premiere”, “Comedians” of the 1970s are distinguished by carnivalism. They open space for various interpretations, indicating the erudition of the author, his tendency to deeply comprehend life, and a philosophical view of reality.

Comedians. Oil on Canvas. 160х14.1970

Portraits of Gudzenko’s brush and his later works are distinguished by a dark monochrome palette, but this does not make them more dramatic, rather softer and calmer. Such are “Don Quixote” (1973), “Portrait of the veteran groom Gritsay” (1984) and the last work - “Alley of calm” (2005).

Portrait of the veteran groom Gritsaya. 1984

Eduard Gudzenko was born in Cherkasy (Central Ukraine) in 1938. He died in the village of Budishche in 2006. He was educated at an art school in Chisinau (1957-1962), where he studied under Mikhail Greku and had practical training with Corneliu Baba. In 1966, the only time he took part in the Republican Exhibition of Young Artists of the Ukrainian SSR, where he received positive reviews from T. N. Yablonskaya, G. V. Yakutovich and G. I. Gavrilenko.

After studying, Eduard Ivanovich had a difficult fate. Not having poured into a wave of official Soviet art, he lived the life of a provincial artist. He was the head of the art studio in the Cherkasy House of Pioneers in the 1960s. He created several chamber mosaic projects in the interior. The only personal exhibition of the unrecognized master took place in 1987 in Cherkasy, in the same year the artist experienced the first heart attack, after which he had to restore his writing ability.

Outskirts of Cherkasy. Canvas. Oil. 61x74. 1972

Half a century of his active work, from 1957 to 2005, was almost devoid of striking events. The meaning of his life has always been painting.

Solo exhibitions were organized after the artist’s death, in 2007 - at the Cherkasy Art Museum, in 2008 - in Kiev, in 2014-15, Russian art lovers were able to see his work thanks to the exposition at the Russian Museum in St. Petersburg.

This is how the doctor of philosophy in the field of art history, Jennifer Kahn, characterizes the work of Eduard Gudzenko: “Even in his most abstract works, Gudzenko never neglects the specificity of the image. One can only guess what heights he could reach without being constrained by the limitations of the era. ”

Curator of the exhibition Svetlana Shvydkaya.

The exhibition runs on March 26th.

Turkey. Canvas. Oil. 100x75.1995

Still life with gladioli. Canvas. Oil. 114x109, 1961

Aunt Pelagia. Canvas. Oil. 76x65. 1967