Victoria Kovalchuk
Encyclopedia
Viktoria Kovalchuk is a graphic artist, illustrator, designer, and writer living and working in Lviv
in Western Ukraine.
, Volyn region to an official and a doctor, Victoria Kovalchuk was interested in painting and writing since childhood and attended various art clubs and an evening art school. In school Kovalchuk took part in and won different regional and national literary contests.
Kovalchuk has written a lot of fairy tales and short stories. Her articles on art and society are often published in Ukrainian newspapers.
During 1972-1978, Kovalchuk was studying at the Ukrainian Polygraph Institute. Upon graduating she worked as a head of book design department of the Ukrainian Polygraph Institute, the head of design at the publishing house The Highest School, the design editor of Bricklager publishing house, and a lecturer at the Ukrainian Design Academy.
Kovalchuk is now an independent artist, who paints paintings and illustrate books. She has already completed about 200 books in various genres, among them more than thirty for children.
One of the greatest works is ABC, which received the First Degree Diploma at the 2000 Ukrainian Art Books contest and was named the best book of the year. Specialists admit it as one of the best books on the alphabet in the world. ABC has been reprinted nine times for a total circulation of more than 200,000 copies.
Another book Ukrainian folk clothing contains her scientific research in the ethnography field. She worked on it for four years: from 1990 till 1994. A perfectly illustrated book, it was recognized as one of the best book of 2001.
Her children's book The Golden Penguin was published in the United Kingdom in 2004 and was presented in Covent Garden
in London. Characters from the book were performed by the actors of the Covent Garden Theatre.
Kovalchuk has won a large number of other prizes in Ukraine
, Russia
, and Moldova
. Her paintings have been shown at international exhibitions in Lviv
, Kiev
, Koktebel
, Moscow
, and Volgograd
. In 1999 Lviv State Television produced the film Poetic Theatre of Victoria Kovalchuk directed by Evgenij Bondarenko.
A mythical realist, her work is greatly influenced by symbolism, futurism, and folk art.
Since 2005 Kovalchuk has been created her own line, called «prikolizm» (en: «fun-art»), a kind of protest against consumerism with decadent postmodernist decadence.
Living in Lviv
, the town where various cultures cross, the artist tries to absorb the best traditions of Polish, Hebrew and Russian people that have lived in Galicia
together for hundreds of years. Kovalchuk is also interested in life of the Carpathian Highlanders: their traditions, customs, and beliefs. Her pictures are full of love and tolerance.
Victoria Kovalchuks artist works could be divided into several periods:
Lviv
Lviv is a city in western Ukraine. The city is regarded as one of the main cultural centres of today's Ukraine and historically has also been a major Polish and Jewish cultural center, as Poles and Jews were the two main ethnicities of the city until the outbreak of World War II and the following...
in Western Ukraine.
Biography
Born in 1954 in KovelKovel
Kovel is a city located in the Volyn Oblast , in northwestern Ukraine. Serving as the administrative center of the Kovelskyi Raion , the city itself is also designated as a separate raion within the oblast. The current estimated population is around 65,777.Kovel gives its name to one of the...
, Volyn region to an official and a doctor, Victoria Kovalchuk was interested in painting and writing since childhood and attended various art clubs and an evening art school. In school Kovalchuk took part in and won different regional and national literary contests.
Kovalchuk has written a lot of fairy tales and short stories. Her articles on art and society are often published in Ukrainian newspapers.
During 1972-1978, Kovalchuk was studying at the Ukrainian Polygraph Institute. Upon graduating she worked as a head of book design department of the Ukrainian Polygraph Institute, the head of design at the publishing house The Highest School, the design editor of Bricklager publishing house, and a lecturer at the Ukrainian Design Academy.
Kovalchuk is now an independent artist, who paints paintings and illustrate books. She has already completed about 200 books in various genres, among them more than thirty for children.
One of the greatest works is ABC, which received the First Degree Diploma at the 2000 Ukrainian Art Books contest and was named the best book of the year. Specialists admit it as one of the best books on the alphabet in the world. ABC has been reprinted nine times for a total circulation of more than 200,000 copies.
Another book Ukrainian folk clothing contains her scientific research in the ethnography field. She worked on it for four years: from 1990 till 1994. A perfectly illustrated book, it was recognized as one of the best book of 2001.
Her children's book The Golden Penguin was published in the United Kingdom in 2004 and was presented in Covent Garden
Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St. Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit and vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and the Royal Opera House, which is also known as...
in London. Characters from the book were performed by the actors of the Covent Garden Theatre.
Kovalchuk has won a large number of other prizes in Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, and Moldova
Moldova
Moldova , officially the Republic of Moldova is a landlocked state in Eastern Europe, located between Romania to the West and Ukraine to the North, East and South. It declared itself an independent state with the same boundaries as the preceding Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1991, as part...
. Her paintings have been shown at international exhibitions in Lviv
Lviv
Lviv is a city in western Ukraine. The city is regarded as one of the main cultural centres of today's Ukraine and historically has also been a major Polish and Jewish cultural center, as Poles and Jews were the two main ethnicities of the city until the outbreak of World War II and the following...
, Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
, Koktebel
Koktebel
Koktebel , formerly known as Planerskoye, is one of the most popular resort townlets in South-Eastern Crimea. Koktebel is situated on the shore of the Black Sea about halfway between Feodosiya and Sudak and is subordinated to the Theodosia city municipality. It is best known for its literary...
, Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, and Volgograd
Volgograd
Volgograd , formerly called Tsaritsyn and Stalingrad is an important industrial city and the administrative center of Volgograd Oblast, Russia. It is long, north to south, situated on the western bank of the Volga River...
. In 1999 Lviv State Television produced the film Poetic Theatre of Victoria Kovalchuk directed by Evgenij Bondarenko.
Creative work
The creative motto of Victoria Kovalchuk is: "An artist is a herald, not the gardener of his own pride."A mythical realist, her work is greatly influenced by symbolism, futurism, and folk art.
Since 2005 Kovalchuk has been created her own line, called «prikolizm» (en: «fun-art»), a kind of protest against consumerism with decadent postmodernist decadence.
Living in Lviv
Lviv
Lviv is a city in western Ukraine. The city is regarded as one of the main cultural centres of today's Ukraine and historically has also been a major Polish and Jewish cultural center, as Poles and Jews were the two main ethnicities of the city until the outbreak of World War II and the following...
, the town where various cultures cross, the artist tries to absorb the best traditions of Polish, Hebrew and Russian people that have lived in Galicia
Galicia
-Geographic regions:* Galicia , an autonomous community in northwestern Spain** Gallaecia, a province of the Roman Empire** Kingdom of Galicia, a medieval kingdom**Nueva Galicia :*** Nueva Galicia, a region of New Spain, now in Mexico...
together for hundreds of years. Kovalchuk is also interested in life of the Carpathian Highlanders: their traditions, customs, and beliefs. Her pictures are full of love and tolerance.
Victoria Kovalchuks artist works could be divided into several periods:
- Ethno-period with surrealist elements,
- East period – meditative paintings under the influence of Buddhism and Hinduism,
- Mythical realism – an attempt to visualize the properties of a human soul,
- «Prikolizm» (Fun-art) – a reply to vulgar materialism, mechanistic civilization with the cult of greed and violence.