A photograph of artist Maksym Vegera standing by the fire line at Hrushevskoho Street with an easel went viral overnight. In sub-freezing temperatures, the artist worked for seven hours one day to create a painting, inspired by the atmosphere of a fight for freedom.
A 29-year-old engineer with a passion for painting, Vegera said he was afraid to be in such a dangerous place.
Actually, the cold scared me just as much as the clashes did,” he said.
Artists of every discription are drawn to the site of clashes, creating dozens of images that fill the internet since the mostly peaceful EuroMaidan uprising turned more violent on Jan. 19.
Vegera, who mostly paints landscapes and cityscapes, said the view on Hrushevskoho Street was definitely worth all the trouble and risk. “Many asked me how the oil paints worked in such weather. They were totally fine,” he said.
Vegera hasn’t exhibited his work anywhere yet, but says he has many offers from gallery and even some offers to buy the painting, although he didn’t reveal the offered price.
Vegera says he sympathized with the protest but didn’t join it until the first protester was reported dead on Jan. 22 “At that point I could no longer stay aside,” he says. So he came right to the scene to feel the fight and to find the inspiration.
And he did. He was not alone.
Musician and artist Yuriy Zhuravel has also created some revolution-inspired works. They will go on display on Independence Square on Jan. 31. Most of the works are catroons featuring EuroMaidan participants and government members.
Zhuravel is mostly known as a member of Ot Vinta band that also supported EuroMaidan from the start, while Zhuravel’s art is not as well known.
One of the cartoons features opposition leaders Vitali Klitschko, Oleh Tiahnybok and Arseniy Yatseniuk. The trio are modeled on the three umping around a wolf, trying to get treats from him.
“I am much better at drawing than in throwing Molotov cocktails,” Zhuravel jokes.
For some, drawing or painting EuroMaidan is a way to let off steam. Illustrator Marysya Rudska from Kyiv says she finds most of EuroMaidan events uninspiring.
“But there are so many emotions accumulated in me – anger, hate, fear, hope, pride, shock. And all these emotions need a way out,” she says, adding that “you cannot keep illustrating children’s books when people are being beaten, tortured and killed.”
So far Rudska has painted two pictures related to EuroMaidan, and two others are in the works. One of them is a stylized portrait of Mykhailo Havryliuk, the man who was filmed being tortured by riot police. She pictured him as traditional Ukrainian Kozak fighting a black serpent.
“I wanted to support this adamant man. And he has this very bright look, hard to resist drawing it,” the artist explained.
Rudska believes that revolution ary art serves not only as a booster of morals for the protesters, but also serves as a tool in the information war led against EuroMaidan.
“What got the most attention is what will be remembered,” she said.
Street artist Jerzy Konopie tries to draw more public attention to the tragic side of the protests.
Late on Jan. 26, he came to Hrushevskoho Street to make three symbolic installations that looked like targets used to practice shooting. One of those targets featured an orange press vest, one has Red Cross insignia on it and one featured a blue-and-yellow ribbon – all symbolizing different types of victims that resulted from clashes with police.
Konopie said he was inspired by a Channel Five video showing a riot police officer firing his gun directly at the camera lens. “It actually made me think that these beasts were trained to shoot journalists and doctors,” he says.
Konopie said that even thouh many liked his idea, some didn’t understand it. “But when I explained they would laugh and agree that this is very appropriate,” the artist said. But the next day, the installation was ruined “either by some hired provocateurs or by those who didn’t understand it.”
The artist says he will create another one, only further from the fire line this time.
“After all, war without art is just a banal massacre,” he says.
Kyiv Post staff writer Daryna Shevchenko can be reached at [email protected]
