Ukrainian Landscapes

Introduction

This audio guide has been translated into English from the original Ukrainian version narrated by Pavlo Gudimov. The new exhibition in the VIP Lounge at Kyiv Railway Station is called Ukrainian Landscape. You might think it is simply about landscape, but it is not. Landscape is certainly our starting point, but through the works of wonderful Ukrainian artists from different generations — particularly painters, since the exhibition consists mostly of paintings — we are trying to explore what comes after landscape: the post-landscape, the post-scenery.

And it is through landscape that we can understand the conceptual nature of most of these works. Today, landscape is an idea, a convention, a presence.

I recorded this audio guide to make it a little easier for you to explore these works while listening to my brief comments, which will introduce you to the artists and, of course, to their works.

My name is Pavlo Gudimov, and I am an art curator. I wish you a pleasant, comfortable, and safe time in the VIP Lounge at Kyiv Railway Station.

Work 1 of 23

Mykola Malyshko. Untitled.

Mykola Malyshko. This untitled work depicts a rural house and tall trees. It dates from 2014, when the artist travelled to the Poltava region for a plein-air painting session called Velykyi Pereviz.

There, the artist, best known for his symbolic and abstract works, decided to turn to realism for a while and simply depict what he saw.

Two works from this wonderful plein-air session are featured in our exhibition.

Work 2 of 23

Anton Logov. Evening. Ukraine.

Anton Logov’s Evening. Ukraine is a painting from 2020 that presents a truly symbolic space inhabited by two figures — the present and the future. An adult and a child are walking forward. It might be a steppe, it might simply be an open plain, while a large red sun shines behind them.

Work 3 of 23

Anton Logov. Kyiv Sun.

We continue with Anton Logov and his Kyiv Sun from 2026. The artist primarily works with acrylic on canvas.

Kyiv Sun is a dazzling landscape in which the contrast between light and shadow reaches its maximum and everything is flooded with sunlight. We often see Kyiv this way, but the artist makes it much brighter, much more contrasting, and much more expressive.

So, enjoy Kyiv Sun.

Work 4 of 23

Volodymyr Loboda. A Pair of Poplars in the Evening.

This work from 1978 was painted in tempera on cardboard. Its author is Volodymyr Loboda, one of the classics of Ukrainian contemporary art, originally from Dnipro.

We see lombardy poplars, so common in eastern Ukraine and its steppe regions. But between the poplars, a mysterious encounter is taking place: two people are sitting and talking. Perhaps there are strong feelings between them; perhaps it is a deep friendship.

Volodymyr Loboda was an innovator in painting in the 1960s and 1970s and, one could say, brought a powerful wave of modernism into Ukrainian art.

Work 5 of 23

Natalia Laluq. Tree of Resistance at Mezhyhirska and Yaroslavska Streets.

Natalia Laluq is an artist who lives in Canada and Ukraine. She does not visit Ukraine very often, but her beautiful plein-air works are highly valued by those familiar with her art.

Tree of Resistance at Mezhyhirska and Yaroslavska Streets dates from 2025. She simply goes outside with a canvas and oil paints, sets up her easel, and paints exactly what she sees.

Yet her painting is powerful, impulsive, and contemporary in its approach. So let us simply enjoy this realistic image by Natalia Laluq.

Work 6 of 23

Natalia Laluq. View of Podil and Trukhaniv Island.

Continuing her series of realistic studies, Natalia Laluq gives us a view of Podil and Trukhaniv Island. This work also dates from 2025 and is oil on canvas.

Probably every Kyiv resident and every visitor to the capital knows this beautiful view. Now Natalia Laluq has also captured it in her painting, which will delight visitors to the Kyiv VIP Lounge for several months.

Work 7 of 23

Volodymyr Loboda. Our Window.

Here, Volodymyr Loboda depicts the window of the room where he lived with his wife, Liudmyla Loboda, in Dnipro in 1978.

Our Window is an attempt to show a landscape from inside an interior. The window itself becomes either a barrier or a passage between the two spaces.

The work was painted very impulsively in tempera on cardboard. It is now a historic piece, almost fifty years old.

Work 8 of 23

Anton Logov. Unbreakable Khreshchatyk.

Anton Logov continues to introduce us to his vision of Khreshchatyk. Khreshchatyk is a kind of point of reference — the very heart of our capital.

The work is called Unbreakable Khreshchatyk. Despite the war and the many problems it has brought, life in Kyiv goes on: public transport is running, people are walking the streets, and everything continues to function.

Unbreakable Khreshchatyk is therefore, in a sense, a symbol of our heart, which continues to beat in an almost familiar rhythm in these very unfamiliar times.

Work 9 of 23

Anton Logov. Khreshchatyk in the Evening.

A moment ago it was unbreakable, and now it is evening. Perhaps one of the future exhibitions in the VIP Lounge should be devoted entirely to Khreshchatyk. I think I should make a note of that in my curator’s diary.

Khreshchatyk in the Evening is painted in acrylic on canvas, and it is a very recent work — from 2026.

Anton likes these smaller formats because they keep the subject from becoming overly grand or museum-like, allowing it to remain something warm and intimate — a captured moment, a study. Yet it is still a finished work.

Work 10 of 23

Volodymyr Loboda. On the Homespun Cloth.

Loboda’s On the Homespun Cloth series mostly depicted people: women, women and men together, or men.

The homespun cloth here becomes a metaphor for space, for landscape, for cultivated land sown with different crops.

But here we see no people. We see nine poplars — travellers on a cloth of grain — as though the poplars themselves were walking through beautiful fields of wheat.

And where is all this taking place? In the Poltava and Dnipropetrovsk regions. The work was painted in 2008, near the border between these regions, in a village called Turove.

The Loboda family had a residence there, where they would spend every summer creating art. This work is oil on canvas.

Work 11 of 23

Nicole and Michelle Feldman. Three Studies.

Street artists Nicole and Michelle Feldman, originally from Dnipro and longtime residents of Kyiv, often bring the language of the street into their work. Murals and paintings on walls are, after all, interventions into urban space and architecture.

Sometimes they transfer this visual language into an exhibition setting, rendering their simple outlined images in acrylic on canvas.

The new project in the VIP Lounge features three works by Nicole and Michelle Feldman — three studies, three accents.

The first is titled Bus Stop. Painted in 2026, it depicts an old mosaic bus stop. These objects are particularly appreciated by the younger generation, but they are also beautiful examples of Ukrainian decorative art from the late Soviet period.

The second work is titled UZ.

We are at Kyiv Railway Station, after all, and we understand perfectly well that the words “Ukrzaliznytsia” or “Ukrainian Railways” have a special, almost sacred meaning — including for artists. These are the steel rails that connect us with one another and with the wider world.

So what did the Feldman sisters choose as their tribute to Ukrzaliznytsia? They depicted tea in a glass with a metal holder.

The work dates from 2026, and I think it is a wonderful symbol of the cosy atmosphere of a train compartment when travelling aboard Ukrzaliznytsia trains.

The third work is titled Kyiv Cake.

No commentary is really necessary here. We all understand what it means. It is a symbol of our sweet capital — or perhaps the sweet symbol of the capital.

The Feldman sisters undoubtedly depict the Kyiv Cake with a certain irony. But it is 2026, and we have long since lost count of how many years we have known it, loved it, eaten it, given it as a gift, and brought it along when visiting friends.

These three beautiful works by the Feldman sisters will delight you with what we might call simple subjects — but subjects with deeper meanings.

Work 12 of 23

Albina Yaloza. Untitled.

Albina Yaloza is a graphic artist who studied in Kharkiv, lived in Odesa for many years, and now lives in Kyiv.

Her work is a linocut printed on canvas. It depicts the bottom of the Kakhovka Reservoir planted with potatoes.

How do we know what is depicted? Because the artist herself wrote on the work: “Spring 2023,” followed by the words “the bottom has been planted with potatoes.” The inscription ends with the phrase: “There used to be a ‘sea’ here.”

Albina Yaloza explores a variety of subjects: landscape, sacred imagery, and everyday life. She is one of the few artists who continues the tradition of linocut while transforming it into a powerful contemporary artistic medium capable of reaching impressive scales and addressing profound themes.

Work 13 of 23

Anton Logov. Unbreakable Khreshchatyk.

We have already encountered Anton Logov’s works celebrating Khreshchatyk. Our next work is also titled Unbreakable Khreshchatyk.

It dates from 2026 and is an acrylic on canvas. I think that from now on, many of you will associate Anton with beautiful Khreshchatyk.

Work 14 of 23

Anton Logov. Yellow Field.

Anton Logov’s next work is called Yellow Field. It is a concise, straightforward title that corresponds exactly to what we see.

There seems to be no hidden meaning. Yet Anton, who is deeply engaged in searching for the abstract within the real, works with images very carefully and subtly.

This is another acrylic painting on canvas from 2026.

Work 15 of 23

Andriy Sahaidakovskyi. Untitled.

We know Andriy Sahaidakovskyi as an artist who very originally uses rugs, tablecloths, and sheets instead of conventional canvas for his paintings.

A major exhibition at Mystetskyi Arsenal before the war clearly demonstrated his ability to create large-scale installations. He has always enjoyed combining painting and installation.

Perhaps installation itself can, to some extent, be considered painting in space.

Here we have an unconventional subject: a hunter has taken up his bow and is aiming it at the moon. Perhaps he wants to hunt the moon. Perhaps he will even succeed.

Andriy Sahaidakovskyi is deeply immersed in European philosophy, and each of his seemingly simple narrative works reinterprets a particular philosophical tradition.

The work was painted in oil on a rug in 2024.

Work 16 of 23

Mykola Malyshko. Sky of the Poltava Region.

Mykola Malyshko’s Sky of the Poltava Region was painted during the Velykyi Pereviz plein-air session in 2014.

Works by Mykola Malyshko that depict reality so directly are very rare. At the same time, this piece demonstrates his versatility — his ability to work not only symbolically but realistically as well. Perhaps it was a kind of challenge he set for himself.

Notice the way the brushstrokes are applied. His approach to painting here is particularly subtle. It is not expressive; it is quite rational.

It’s a 2014 work. Oil on canvas. Mykola Malyshko. One of our classics.

Work 17 of 23

Anton Logov. Kyiv Evening.

Kyiv again. Perhaps Anton’s background — he comes from Odesa or the Odesa region, studied at the Kyiv Academy after Odesa, and eventually embraced Kyiv as his home — explains why he devotes so much attention to scenes of Kyiv life.

Kyiv Evening from 2026 is one such work. It is painted in acrylic on canvas and presented here for you to enjoy.

Do not search for anything in it. Simply look and experience this evening as a mood.

Work 18 of 23

Anton Logov. Kyiv Day. Chess.

Anton Logov again. This time, Kyiv Day. Chess.

When an artist gives a work such a clear title, commentary is sometimes unnecessary. It is a work from 2026 in which Anton Logov depicts not simply a day in Kyiv, but combines it with one of the world’s most intellectually demanding games.

Work 19 of 23

Oleksandr Kryzhanovskyi. Intent of Observation.

Intent of Observation, 2026. Oil on canvas.

Oleksandr Kryzhanovskyi is originally from Drohobych. He studied at the Lviv Academy of Arts and now teaches at the Boychuk Academy.

Despite his teaching, he never neglects his own artistic practice and painting.

He often draws on themes from philosophy and mysticism and transfers them onto canvas. But beyond the subject matter, his work also has a distinctive and recognisable visual language.

I believe that for any artist working today with complex painting techniques, having this kind of visual identity is important. Oleksandr Kryzhanovskyi is constantly developing his.

Work 20 of 23

Oleksandr Kryzhanovskyi. Untitled.

The next work by Oleksandr Kryzhanovskyi is untitled.

This narrative work from 2026 is also oil on canvas, and you are free to examine and interpret it however you wish.

When an artist leaves a work untitled, they give you a broad field in which to let your imagination work.

Work 21 of 23

Mykola Malyshko. Fragment.

Finally, we return to Mykola Malyshko and two works that can be described as central to his artistic practice.

Fragment, from 2014, is a mixed-media work on canvas.

What does mixed media mean here? The artist uses clay, chalk, terracotta, and sand, transforming them into pigments with the help of a special adhesive.

In this way, he dissects the very substance of our land and presents a fragment of our country through abstract forms and lines.

Work 22 of 23

Mykola Malyshko. Robes of Trees.

Mykola Malyshko. Robes of Trees. The title itself suggests that this work does not necessarily have to be perceived as purely abstract, as a collection of shapes. Instead, the viewer is invited to search for and discover those “robes of trees.”

This work is also from 2014 and is made on canvas. We see clay, chalk, lime, and other materials.

Work 23 of 23

Andriy Dudchenko. Hangar. The Shell Effect.

Andriy Dudchenko is a painter and an artist working with mosaics, objects, and graphic art.

Here we have his ambitious large-scale work, which has appeared in several exhibitions, titled Hangar. The Shell Effect.

It depicts the Boychuk Academy, where he teaches, with the building covered by a shell.

We understand that a shell has not only a decorative quality but also a symbolic meaning. When we look at the decoration of historic buildings, we often encounter the shell motif incorporated into architectural ornament.

Here, however, the shell rises above the architecture, seemingly covering it.

Perhaps the artist is suggesting that all of us, in one way or another, live inside shells — inside our own bubbles, inside our own environments — and therefore do not fully see or experience reality as it is. We are all, to some extent, subjective.

This large-scale work from 2023 is painted in acrylic on canvas. Dudchenko is rather laconic here. He constructs the space simply, through colour. The use of perspective is minimal, yet the work feels contemporary, compelling, and monumental.

Andriy Dudchenko. Hangar. The Shell Effect.

Ya Gallery has organised exhibitions in the VIP Lounge at Kyiv Railway Station on several occasions, with the support of Visa.

This time, I hope you have thoroughly enjoyed listening to the guide and viewing this small exhibition. It was never intended to be a museum exhibition; rather, it enriches this space while presenting a vibrant cross-section of the work of Ukrainian artists from different regions.

Next time, I hope we will come up with something equally original for you.

And do not forget to spend some time in the Visa VIP Lounge at Kyiv Railway Station. Remember that a wonderful artistic atmosphere and a warm welcome from the team are always waiting for you here.

See you again soon!