Artist: Nikita Kadan
Title: Stone Hits Stone
Venue: PinchukArtCenter, Kyiv
Curator: Björn Geldhof
Assistant curator: Kateryna Iakovlenko
Exposition architecture and design: Dana Kosmina
Kyiv, Ukraine, February 25, 2021
The PinchukArtCentre (Kyiv, Ukraine) presents “Stone Hits Stone” by Nikita Kadan, made in the context of the PinchukArtCentre’s Research Platform. His first major solo exhibition in Ukraine presents both new produced and existing works reflecting on Ukrainian history, political violence, national historical heritage, avant-garde and Soviet utopia. This exhibition deals with present day challenges in its inextricable connection with the past, using history to enlighten the present and imagine the future.
Björn Geldhof, curator of the exhibition and artistic director of the PinchukArtCentre: “Stone Hits Stone is the first major solo exhibition by Nikita Kadan in Ukraine and his largest solo exhibition to date. It is a celebration of an artist who has created over the last 14 years a vibrant international career while influencing and supporting many Ukrainian artists. For the PinchukArtCentre, Nikita Kadan is just the third Ukrainian artist in 15 years represented with a major solo exhibition. He follows in the footsteps of the two other monuments: Sergey Bratkov and Boris Mikhailov. This landmark exhibition follows a long journey of collaborations since 2007. Kadan showed twice in the PinchukArtCentre Prize (winning it in 2009), twice in the Future Generation Art Prize (once as a member of REP), took part in the exhibition Fear and Hope and presented his works in five other group exhibitions. Therefore, not without pride, we celebrate Nikita Kadan with this exhibition, marking history while dreaming of the future.”
The exhibition opens with a “flashback” expressed as an intuitive artistic and historical reflection mainly through the works of those who are seen as the Ukrainian avant-garde. It accentuates Kadan’s use of the historical past, in the form of ideologies, art and acts of political violence.
Permeating the entire exhibition are historical events, objects and designs that Kadan re-interprets with regard to present-day pressing need to resist geopolitical failures, imperialist aggression and far-right ideologies.
Stone Hits Stone is never about “history as it really was”, it is a motive that flashes up in the moment of danger, and it enlightens our present and directs us towards the future.
On the occasion of Nikita Kadan’s solo exhibition, the PinchukArtCentre will publish in early March 2021 an online book, “Stone Hits Stone”. The collected texts by Uilleam Blacker, Bjorn Geldhof, Kateryna Mischenko and Kateryna Yakovlenko will elaborate on history and memory, art interpretation of the past and violence as well as actualisation of the avant-garde legacy today. The design is by Aliona Solomadina. The book will be available on the PinchukArtCentre web page in English and Ukrainian.
Nikita (Mykyta) Kadan was born in Kyiv in 1982. In 2007, he graduated from the National Academy of Fine Art (Kyiv) where he studied at the on department of monumental painting. Nikita Kadan is a member of the group of artists R.E.P. (Revolutionary Experimental Space) since 2004 and co-founder and member of the HUDRADA, group of curators and activities, since 2008. He is the main prize winner of the PinchukArtCentre Prize 2011 and a special prize winner of the Future Generation Art Prize 2014. Participant of Venice, Istanbul, Kyiv, Busan biennials. The works of Nikita Kadan feature in collections of such museums as Pinakothek der Moderne (Munich), MUMOK Museum Contemporary Art (Vienna), MuHKa Museum of Contemporary Art (Antwerp), Museum of Modern Art (Warsaw) (Poland), Military History Museum (Dresden), National Art Museum( Kyiv).
PinchukArtCentre
The PinchukArtCentre was founded in September 2006 by businessman and philanthropist Victor Pinchuk. It is one the largest and most dynamic private contemporary art centres in Central and Eastern Europe. With over 3 million visitors, the PinchukArtCentre has become an international hub for contemporary art, developing the Ukrainian art scene while generating critical public discourse for society as a whole.
For more than a decade, the PinchukArtCentre has provided free access to new ideas, perceptions and emotions. Its exhibition program investigates national identity in the context of international challenges. It engages the public in a dynamic dialogue through a full range of educational and discursive events.
In 2016, the PinchukArtCentre launched Research Platform as a pioneering project that aims to generate a living archive of Ukrainian art from the early 1980s through to the present. The research is regularly shared with the public through exhibitions, publications, and discussions.
Simultaneously, the PinchukArtCentre invests in the next generation though the Future Generation Art Prize and the PinchukArtCentre Prize, awards for young contemporary artists aged 35 or younger. These prizes have made the institution a leading centre for the best emerging artists worldwide while empowering a new generation in Ukraine.
The PinchukArtCentre is located in Kyiv’s historic architectural complex in the Besarabka area, which underwent a major renovation in the beginning of the 21st century. The interior architecture for the centre was developed by the French architect Philippe Chiambaretta. Currently, the PinchukArtCentre occupies six floors with exhibition spaces on four floors, library, education room, book store, video-lounge and café. The total exhibition space amounts to more than 3000 sq. meters.
