Roman Zhuk

Roman Zhuk (1955) – is a well-known figure of the Ukrainian trance avantgarde. He is an artist who reveals his vision and emotionality through images in moody still lifes, magical landscapes, portraits, and candid compositions. The painting style from the beginning of the 1980s is distinguished by the transformation of the traditional genres of still life and portraiture into mysterious stories that reflect life outside the boundaries of reality. Since the beginning of the 2000s, features of "cuteism" and hyperreality have been added to his works as metaphors for mocking the consumerist lifestyle. Roman Zhuk's works have been exhibited worldwide since 1987. The artist's works are in the collections of the Lviv Art Gallery, the Sumy Art Museum, the National Art Museum of Ukraine, the Museum of Modern Fine Arts of Ukraine, etc. Since the mid-1990s, the artist has been living in Amsterdam, Netherlands, but actively participates in the processes of Ukrainian art. 

In "Still Life with Oranges", traditional still life is transformed into a narrative with quotations from the metaphysical painting of Giorgio Morandi. In the works of Roman Zhuk, quotations from European classics are often repeated: this is how he brings old truths into the modern context. Vulva materialized as frigid cold vases with oranges or bananas in paintings filled with saturated colours – one of these ideas. If we put aside the apparent obviousness and simplicity, the true nature of the author is revealed to us.