Calling in Art! – Charity Auction of Works by Artists from Ukraine
DESA Unicum is pleased to host a charity auction for Ukraine once more, this time with the support of the Ukrainian Embassy in the Republic of Poland and the Lviv Regional Military Administration. Calling in Art! charity auction was created on the initiative of Marta Pyrih, a philanthropist from Lviv who supports children with artistic talents and special needs, as well as Aleksander Denysenko, an award-winning film director, student of Andrzej Wajda, visionary, and curator of artistic projects.
The auction aims to raise funds to support Ukraine suffering from Russian aggression, as well as its soldiers on the front line of art – Ukrainian artists. Calling in Art! is an incentive for collectors to aid Ukrainian art and thus show support for the fight for Ukraine's freedom. This is the first auction in Desa Unicum during which we will present you with works only by Ukrainian painters. Among more than thirty creators specially selected by the advisory board, you will find artists who have won international competitions, such as Oleha Denysenko, Petro Lebedynets, Roman Romanyshyn, and Vladyslav Shereshevski, whose paintings are in foreign state and private collections.
Oleh Denysenko, who has won more than thirty international awards and is an active member of the Academic Senate of the International Academy of Modern Art in Rome, stands out in particular. His works can be found in the Royal Palace in Stockholm, the Albrecht Dürer House Museum, the Royal Academy in London, as well as other museums and private collections worldwide. Denysenko works using his unique technique of gessography, which he created and patented together with his son, Aleksander. The New York Times announced the gessography technique, presenting the Ukrainian artistic invention to the world as follows: "Oleh Denysenko is best known for his intricate etchings. The artist's recent works are rendered in a new technique called "gessography," which combines the age-old methods of engraving with gesso and painting."
Our auction also presents you with "The Gravity" by Peter Lebedynets, a winner of honorary prizes at the Interstate Art Festival in Kiev and the International Contemporary Art Exhibition in Nice, as well as the honorary diploma at the "Our Heritage" Art Festival of the Metropolitan Museum and the National Art Club in New York. The aim of Lebedynets' art is to bring joy. His paintings are distinguished by a burst of color, free of forms and narratives, which are applied with broad brushstrokes, creating uneven structures. Another painting deserving of attention is the canvas "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?" by Roman Romanyshyn, a winner of numerous international awards, who participated in over a hundred collective exhibitions in Europe, America, Japan, and Korea. Petro Bevza, whose works were presented at many displays in Europe, North America, and the United Arab Emirates, known among the Polish public thanks to the April issue of Vogue, also submitted his painting "Mountain Theatre" for our auction. In his art, the author refers to systems of signs and symbols that reflect the cultural features of the Ukrainian nation, while also attempting to strike a balance between the virtual, fictional world of information and the real, external one. The work "Oleksa" by Vladyslav Shereshevskyi, who received a scholarship from the German Ministry of Culture, is directly related to current events in Ukraine. The artist has had numerous collective and solo exhibitions; his works are held in many private collections both in and outside the country, including the Municipal Gallery in Munich and Daimler Benz (Stuttgart).
The auction will feature a diverse range of contemporary Ukrainian art, including abstract compositions, landscapes, still lifes, works inspired by eastern iconography and folklore, and surrealist paintings. The war and the Ukrainian heroes will be referred to both explicitly and symbolically.
The Ukrainian Volunteering and Help Center, which coordinates humanitarian aid for those harmed by Russian aggression, will receive all of the auction's proceeds. The foundation is involved in building shelters that offer accommodation, meals, as well as medical and psychological care. Furthermore, it arranges logistics centers in Lviv, Dnieper, and Poland where essentials are gathered from all over the world and later distributed to the most in need in 24 regions of Ukraine.