Female Corporeality and Religion 2023
Online Art Exhibition
Praising the Mother of God
Vlodko Oleshchuk
Inspired by a 17th c. icon “The Mother of God and Archangels” from the National Art Museum of Ukraine
Board, tempera, oil, gilding
50 x 39.5 cm
2011
SOLD
Description
This is a creative interpretation of the late 17th century icon “The Virgin with the Archangels” from the National Art Museum of Ukraine. Representations of Mary, the mother of God, on the throne with Jesus-Emmanuel and two archangels – Michael and Gabriel – date back to the late 5th – early 6th centuries. This was a way to visually represent the dignity of Mary, who is “more honourable than the Cherubim and Seraphim”, as stated in liturgical texts, since she became the mother of God. Due to the influence of the Baroque art that came to Ukraine from Western Europe, this image acquires some new attributes, e.g., sceptre and orb, that reinforce the same idea of a woman who has ascended the heavenly throne and is surrounded by archangels. (ST)
Volodymyr Oleshchuk
Volodymyr Oleshchuk (b. 1984) is a Ukrainian artist, professionally engaged in iconography and painting on canvas. He has participated in the reconstruction of some of the most prominent monuments of Kyiv, Poltava, and Lviv. He is a member of the Ukrainian Union of Icon Painters. He conducts master classes and seminars on painting technology and levkas (board preparation).
Recently, he has been working in the field of abstract painting, as well as experimenting with video art, photography, and music. He creates works in MediaArt, VideoArt and NFT. He was the author of video art in the music and theater project "Antonych at Home", 2014. He worked as a set designer and video art director in the Opera Myth "Ukraine - Terra incognita", 2021. He participated in numerous exhibitions and open-air events in Ukraine, Poland, Croatia, the USA, and Switzerland.
