Ukrainian underground was a movement in Ukraine's

Soviet period The history of Soviet Russia and the Soviet Union (USSR) reflects a period of change for both Russia and the world. Though the terms "Soviet Russia" and "Soviet Union" often are synonymous in everyday speech (either acknowledging the dominance ...

from the late 1950s through the early 1990s. This art form was banned by several totalitarian countries of

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, whic ...

and the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

. It was also known under other names, such as unofficial art, nonconformism, and dissident art. It ended due to the Perestroika reform movement, which led to

Ukrainian independence Ukraine emerged as the concept of a nation, and the Ukrainians as a nationality, with the Ukrainian National Revival which began in the late 18th and early 19th century. The first wave of national revival is traditionally connected with the publ ...

in 1991. After the Soviet Union collapsed, similar counter-cultural processes developed under the names of "alternative" or "marginal" art. The avant-garde ideas of underground art were picked up and developed by the next generation of the Ukrainian New Wave. "Underground," in this context, refers to creativity that is directed towards self-expression of the individual or artistic groups, in contrast to the philosophical, ethical, and aesthetic codes of the mainstream. Ukrainian underground literature was published by the authors themselves and these dissident publications were known as

samizdat Samizdat (russian: самиздат, lit=self-publishing, links=no) was a form of dissident activity across the Eastern Bloc in which individuals reproduced censored and underground makeshift publications, often by hand, and passed the document ...

. Underground music was performed for a small number of listeners.

History

During the 1960–1980s, Ukrainian underground art was also called "the second wave of the avant-garde", which was consonant with the first wave of

Ukrainian avant-garde Ukrainian avant-garde is a term widely used to refer the most innovative metamorphosises in Ukrainian art from the end of 1890s to the middle of the 1930s along with associated artists. Broadly speaking, it is Ukrainian art synchronized with the i ...

in the early twentieth century, which held similarly innovative artistic goals. Underground art exhibition was typically banned. Artists held exhibitions in abandoned buildings, homes of friends, and similar venues. One of the first apartment exhibitions in Ukraine was held in

Odesa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrati ...

in 1956, in the apartment of the artist and art critic Oleg Sokolov. The underground movement garnered significant publicity after a 1967 exhibition by two young artists under the title "Sychik+Khruschik" ( Stanislav Sychov and Valentin Khrushch). The artists hung their paintings on a street fence, drawing a considerable crowd. The exhibition lasted three hours until authorities dispersed the audience. Subsequently, a powerful group formed consisting of artists and nonconformists who openly opposed

Socialist Realism Socialist realism is a style of idealized realistic art that was developed in the Soviet Union and was the official style in that country between 1932 and 1988, as well as in other socialist countries after World War II. Socialist realism is c ...

: Alexander Anufriev, Vladimir Strelnikov, Victor Marynyuk, Valery Basanets and his wife Tatiana, Ludmila Yastreb, Andrei Antoniuk, Lucien Dulfan, Oleg Voloshin, Eugene Rakhmanin, Vladimir Tsiupko, Igor Bozhko, Alexander Stovbur, Yuri Egorov, Michael Kowalski, Sergei Knyazev, Vladimir Naumets, Nikolay Stepanov, Alexander Dmitriev, Nadia Haiduk, Vitaly Sazonov, Viktor Rysovych, Eugene Hodenko, and others. In 1965, in

Kharkiv Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.Vagrich Bakhchanyan , Anatoly Krynsky, Michael Basov, Yuri Kuchukov, Anatoly Shulik and others. Some of these individuals studied under famous avant-garde artists who worked in Kharkov, such as Alexey Shcheglov, Vasyl Yermylov, Borys Kosarev. A creatively-different atmosphere developed in western Ukraine, since many artists there were educated in the European art tradition, rather than Soviet. In the late 1950s, in

Uzhhorod Uzhhorod ( uk, У́жгород, , ; ) is a city and municipality on the river Uzh in western Ukraine, at the border with Slovakia and near the border with Hungary. The city is approximately equidistant from the Baltic, the Adriatic and the ...

, a circle formed of abstract artists which included Paul Bedzir, Elizabeth Kremnytska, Ferenc (Echi) Seman, and others. At the same time, in

Lviv Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukrain ...

, such artists as Marhit and Roman Selsky gathered in their homes a group of artists including Carlo Zvirynsky, Roman Turin, Omelian Lishchynsky, Daniel Dovboshynsky, Vladimir Patyk, Jaroslav Motyka, Oksana and Vladimir Rybotytski. In the 1970-1980s, the Lviv circle of informal artists was supplemented by such names as Alexander Aksinin, Nadezhda Ponomarenko, Galina Zhyhulska, Valery Demyanyshyn, Yevhen Zakharov, Michael Green, Vladimir Pinihin, and others. In 1960–1964 in

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe. Kyi ...

, the "Creative Youth Club" was active The members consisted of writers, composers, scientists, and actors. Among the artists were Alla Horska and her husband Viktor Zaretsky, Opanas Zalyvakha, Lyudmila Semykina, Galina Sevruk, Galina Zubchenko, Alexander Shkaraputa, and Vladimir Pryadko. The first apartment exhibition in Kyiv (1964) was organized by the artist Anatoly Prevish. His work contained the symbols of the fortitude of the era. In the 1970s, the "Rukh"("Movement") formed. Its members included writers, scientists, and artists. They regularly gathered to discuss the latest artistic trends and to read

. In 1977, they organized an exhibition that included such artists as Yuri Kosin, Nik Niedzelski, Mikola Tregub, Vudon Baklitsky,

Nicholas Zalevsky Nicholas Zalevsky (born February 19, 1951, Kiev, Ukraine) — Ukrainian and American figurative painter. His works have been associated with Magic realism, Photorealism and Surrealism. He started his career as a Soviet Nonconformist ...

, Alexander Kostetsky, Olena Golub, Vladimir Boguslavsky, Mikhael Zhukov, and others.in Ukr.:''Olena Holub''. Anniversary of an underground exhibit.// Den (The Day), 2007, —Dec.

/ref> Underground artists typically worked at home without any hope of recognition, supplementing their work by such activities as book illustration. In the late 1970s a certain degree of liberalization in the social system occurred, which led to partial acceptance of the unofficial art. Underground artists were able to participate in a limited number of official exhibitions. These artists included Valery Lamakh, Florian Yuriev, Wilen Barsky, Alexander Dubovik, Feodosiy Tetianych , Ernest Kotkov, Alexander Shuldyzhenko, Gregory Gavrylenko, Anatoly Sumar, Akim Levich, Zoe Lerman, Ivan Marchuk, Irina Vysheslavska, Alexander Pavlov, Julius Sheinis, Michael Weinstein, Anatoly Lymarev, Ada Rybachuk and

Volodymyr Melnychenko Volodymyr Volodymyrovych Melnychenko ( uk, Володимир Володимирович Мельниченко; 25 February 1932 – 19 April 2023) was a Ukrainian visual artist, sculptor, architect, Honored Artist of Ukraine, member of the Nat ...

. Many underground artists suffered persecution by the authorities for their stances. Some of them died young, while others were forced to leave the country and work in Europe or the USA. Despite the hard times, many artists persevered by performing "quiet resistance" with their brushes and paints, creating innovative and unusual art displays, performances, and installations. Their works are now recognized across the globe and constitute the bulk of collections at museums such as Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers University,

Museum of Russian Art The Museum of Russian Art (MoRA) is a museum in Jersey City, New Jersey dedicated to exhibiting Russian art, particularly Soviet Nonconformist Art. It was established in 1980 as CASE Museum of Contemporary Russian Art (the name including the a ...

, National Art Museum of Ukraine, NT-Art Gallery, and others. Artists V

References

Sources

* in ukr:'' G. Vysheslavsky , O. Sidor Hibelynda'' . // Terminology of Modern Art, Paris-Kyiv, Terra Incognita, 2010, - P.32-37. * in ukr:''Olena Golub''. The Bright and Gloomy Days of Underground Artists//Kyiv, Published House "Antiquary", 2017, * in ukr.:"Lesya Smyrna". Nonconformism Century in Ukrainian visual art // Kyiv : Phoenix, 2017.

External links

Ukrainian unofficial artUkrainian underground music
(in Ukrainian) * Odessa art grou

{{Culture of Europe Ukrainian culture Soviet Nonconformist Art Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic History of Ukraine (1918–1991) Ukrainian studies 20th century in Ukraine Modern history of Ukraine Ukrainian contemporary art Ukrainian art movements Art movements in Europe

History

See also

References

Sources

External links