Ihor Podolchak

Ihor Podolchak (1962) is a Ukrainian postmodern artist, director, screenwriter, and curator. Addresses the spheres of installation, performance, and video art. The content of his works often combines pleasure and pain, love and play, forbidden desires, debauchery and sincere feelings. The works of Ihor Podolchak are stored in museums and private collections in Ukraine, France, Egypt, Australia, Great Britain, Israel, Germany, Norway, Poland, the USA, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Italy, Cuba, and Macedonia. In 1994, Podolchak represented Ukraine at the Art Biennial in Sao Paulo.

Ihor Podolchak's graphics are an essential stage of Lviv poststructuralism. His depictions of the human body show signs of disintegration, and the themes of his compositions are post-apocalyptic. The artist's epic manner and grotesque aesthetics resemble European Baroque artists' interpretation of life and death. The work "My Trump Card" was created in the late 1980s during significant socio-cultural changes in Ukraine and the world. The composition is based on mirror symmetry, doubling the main image and forming a vertical axis. The figures appear simultaneously human and demonic, hinting at the duality of human nature. The sharpness of the strokes and the intricacy of the shapes increase the tension, creating the effect of internal conflict. The work can be interpreted as an artistic comprehension of moral dilemmas and the human condition in the conditions of transformation. The title itself hints at the game of life, where everyone uses their hidden sides to survive or find meaning.