Bohdan Soika

Bohdan Soika (1938-2018) was a Ukrainian painter and monumental artist, a representative of the generation of artists trained by Roman Selskyi and Karl Zvirynskyi. He was the author of monumental and decorative works, portraits, figurative compositions, landscapes, and still lifes. His style was shaped under the influence of the Lviv academic school and the informal education of the 1960s.

Abstraction 1 is one of the training works of the "underground academy of Karl Zvirynskyi," demonstrating the artist’s mastery of synthetic cubism techniques. The composition reveals an abstract vision of still life objects from a frontal perspective and explores the possibilities of abstract thinking, where the image of objects can be conveyed as a sign of a color plane.

The 1960s became a period of intense experimentation in his work, during which he studied the methods and principles of European avant-garde styles of the early 20th century. His works from this time stand out for their deep compositional structure and balance between a free and carefully considered approach to artistic imagery.

This work draws attention with its dynamism, plastic expressiveness, and ability to convey a state through the interplay of colors and forms.