Sydoruk Oleksandr

Oleksandr Sydoruk was born on 16 July 1959 in Zhdanov (today Mariupol), Donetsk region in the family of the Ukrainians from Volyn region. He graduated from Krasnodar Art College, Department of Scenography (1978). Worked in the theatre, taught at the art school named after Kuindzhi. Since December 1983, he has been living in Uzhhorod. From 1988 – till now, he has been working as a lecturer of the Uzhhorod Children's Art School, Department of Fine Arts, which he headed in 1998 – 2006.

During this period, a lot of students of the artist took part and became the winners of numerous international, republican, regional art projects, exhibitions, contests, and festivals. He worked as a painter in the theatre-studio "Near the castle". He worked on the plays by Jean Anouilh, M. Starytskyi, A. Chekhov, S. Beckett, F. Kryvin and many other authors in collaboration with the director V. Dvortsyn. Participant in theatrical festivals in Uzhhorod, Lviv, Kyiv, Vilnius, Riga, Moscow, and Belgrade. He collaborates as a consultant and stage designer with the Transcarpathian Regional State Russian Drama Theatre (Mukachevo). His scenographic work – a staging of O. Ostrovskyi's play "Late Love" – was nominated for the Regional Prize named after the brothers Yevhen and Yurii Sherehii in 2003. His next work – based on the play of Eugène Ionesco "Fox Singer" – received approval reviews at the International Theatrical Festival "Golden Lion". In 2005-2006, as the main coordinator of Ukraine, he headed the International Art Project "Warhol-Fest", which was declared to be the best within the co-operation of the countries at the Ukraine-Slovakia intergovernmental meeting. He received a commemorative medal from the Andy Warhol Foundation (Pittsburgh, the USA). Awarded an honorary diploma of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Ukraine.

Oleksandr Sydoruk is an original artist with an original worldview. His works are easily recognizable, determined not only by the school and acquired education but also by the worldview of the artist. Looking at the works created within several decades, one can see the stages of the master’s evolution who is in constant motion, the variability of mood and forms of expression. In the 90s, his work was full of expression, increased tragedy and emotionality, which were replaced with concentration and the need for silence. As a result, we can see still lifes, absurdly hyper-realistic in character. Recently, the artist works a lot in the genre of landscape and portrait, trying to reveal the essence, mood, emotional state, character, and the meaning of existence through the simple things that surround us.

The artist can be characterized by a particularly serious and responsible attitude to his works. He seems to deliberately avoid the ostentatious, outward part of his style, does not try to impress the viewers with it, but works easily improvising and delicately concentrating our attention on the things which are, in his opinion, necessary. The artist believes that life is given to us so that we learn to forgive and love.

Text: Volodymyr Myshanych