In memory of Hrekova

The first solo exhibit by the young Kyivan artist Olha Hrekova, which has opened at the Griffon Gallery, is entitled “Memory Exhibit.” Hrekova died more than a year ago at the age of 25.

The posthumous exhibit appears to be the result of an ardent desire to show all of Hrekova’s work. At any rate, works and texts that were born of totally different moods are placed side by side, although they are strongly connected by the author’s personality: the refined, ironical, and bitter graphic cycle inspired by Nabokov’s play Event (it won the artist a diploma with distinction from the Kyiv Printing Art Institute), fairytale-like illustrations for children’s books, expressive and profoundly tragic paintings, dolls, and strange poems, like:

Everything has been,
Everything will be,
Everything already is...

“Her creativity is her soul. The struggle against inner pain and her nonconformity to the surrounding world were stronger than her,” says Hrekova’s sister, graphic artist Iryna Didenko.