‘Petrykivka: The Soul of Ukraine” is an exhibition of unique Ukrainian folk art organized by The Ukrainian Museum and the art collectors Yuri Mischenko and Natalie Pawlenko, a West Windsor couple whose private collection reflects a variety of Petrykivka styles.
“Yuri and I are not artists; however, we are lifelong art collectors,” says Natalie Pawlenko. “In the past few years, we have focused on acquiring a Ukrainian art form known as Petrykivka. When we reached a critical mass (almost 30 works) we had the works go on exhibit in New York. It is particularly symbolic to us to have this work go on show now as it was once repressed in Ukraine. And as Ukraine struggles to free itself from invasion from Russia, so did the earlier artists of Petrykivka.”
The couple met in the late 1980s when they were both independently working as environmental activists on post-Chernobyl issues. “Yuri was the first director of ‘Green World’ (Zeleniy Svit), the first environmental advocacy group allowed by the communist government,” says Pawlenko. “I had co-founded a volunteer advocacy group that was producing materials on post-Chernobyl Ukraine and doing fundraising for Green World. We met in Kyiv, fell in love, and the rest is history. That was 1990: we were great collaborating partners then, and we still are today.”
Both Ukrainian, Natalie Pawlenko was born in Newark to parents who fled to the U.S. during World War II. She works for the state Department of Health in the division responsible for emergency preparedness.
Yuri Mischenko was born near Kyiv. He is a senior manager with a Canadian bank that has a presence on Wall Street. His daughter, Olia Mishchenko, lives in Toronto and is an artist whose work has been exhibited in Canada and is included in the permanent collections of Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, and the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa.
“Petrykivka art originated from an ancient decorative painting tradition in central Ukraine, where it began as painting on interior and exterior adobe white-washed walls, ceiling beams, and hearths, as well as decorative painting on furniture, boxes, and wooden kitchenware,” the couple wrote in a press release printed by the Ukrainian Weekly. “Due to the perishability of the medium and the turbulent history of Ukraine, only a few examples of folk decorative painting from central Ukraine predating the 19th century are preserved in Ukrainian museums.”
“Petrykivka paintings are characterized by a number of core motifs that reflect the unity between humans and their natural environment, and the cyclical rebirth of life, expressed not only through artistic design but also through the annual need to renew, or refresh, the paintings on the homes’ whitewashed walls.”
“Since Ukraine re-established independence in 1991, the popularity of Petrykivka art has experienced something of a renaissance in the country. Painted souvenir items, in particular, have become popular among a broad audience, while the more sophisticated and exclusive maliovky have gained a following among art collectors and researchers.”
“More recently, Petrykivka has found additional expression in exterior and interior design, a notable example being St. George wooden church in central Kyiv, painted by the artists Halyna Nazarenko and Iryna Kibets.”
“Recently, the artistic beauty and unique-ness of the Petrykivka art style received international recognition. In October 2013, a Petrykivka art exhibit comprising works by renowned Petrykivka masters was held at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris.”
The exhibition at the Ukrainian Museum in New York will be on view through August.
The Ukrainian Museum, 222 East Sixth Street (between Second Avenue and the Bowery), New York City. The 40 works on exhibit feature the paintings of 17 artists, each having a U.S. premiere. 212-228-0110; E-mail info@ukrainianmuseum.org, www.ukrainianmuseum.org.
