KOVACH PAVLO

Member of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine (1993).

He was born on 9 June 1959 in Svoboda village, Berehovo district, Transcarpathia.  In 1976, he entered the Uzhhorod School of Applied Arts, Department of Metal Art Processing.  The artist recalled the years of study with special warmth. Talented pedagogues Shandor Petki, Ivan Masniuk, Yosyp Pal, Vasyl Petretskyi gave professional knowledge, as well as inspired the future artist to believe in his own strength. In his second year, Pavlo discovered the art of Fedir Manailo, Adalbert Erdeli, Andrii Kotska – Transcarpathian school of painting was in its prime time. The young man was impressed because all this did not coincide with his ideas about art.

In 1978, a third-year student had a fateful meeting with the famous non-conformist painter Pavlo Bedzir, who, according to the youngest artist, “took and turned everything over. More precisely, he put everything in its place.” Pavlo Bedzir was not like his colleagues: he was fond of the esoteric teachings of the East, practised yoga and worked on the verge of figurative and abstract arts. Being an excellent pedagogue, he became a true guru for young artists interested in the philosophy of the world perception and expression, different from the generally accepted dogmas of that time. Pavlo Kovach became a pupil and follower of Pavlo Bedzir and has been still faithful to his views and guidance.

Pavlo Kovach considers art one of the most important forms of the world cognition, self-knowledge and self-expression, preferring intuition to visual perception. In 1984, the artist began his exhibition activity, and in 1989 he became a member of the international biennale.

For a long period, from 1989 to 2002, Pavlo Kovach was working as a drawing teacher at Uzhhorod Gymnasium. In the difficult 90s, the artist proved his outstanding pedagogical talent: he found an individual approach to each child and his creativity, being, in fact, an artist-psychologist. At the same time, the artist did not leave his own creative activity. In 1998, on the basis of the creative group “Left Eye”, he started an artistic group “Pop-trance” which unites freedom-loving artists, who boldly express their own opinions and have a clear civic participation. They held joint exhibitions and interesting art events.

And since 2002, a new stage has begun in the artist’s creative life – he took up reconstruction and restoration works. He restored the paintings of the Holy Cross Cathedral of the Greek Catholic Cathedral in Uzhhorod, as well as the Church in Bilky village, Irshava district, Transcarpathia.

At the beginning of 2003, Pavlo Kovach opened the informal gallery “Corridor” – a space that became an alternative to those who think differently from traditional art expression. Here the author embodies interesting art projects. Gallery “Corridor” became a place of communication of creative bohemia – young artists, musicians, writers. Thus, the spirit of the avant-garde meetings of the times of Pavlo Bedzir is kept.

The activity of Pavlo Kovach is extremely wide: painting, installation, video performance. The artist describes his work as follows: “I am free of all styles because I have other priorities. My value is inner freedom, which can be expressed in any style. And therefore, I believe that an artist should not show himself in the same style or to be recognizable. It is a little bit pop. I don’t want someone like me. It is important for me that a person who sees my work understands that I have started with my own tabula rasa”.  

The artist is an active participant in exhibitions and art events. His works were presented in personal and group projects at the Bottega Art Gallery of Modern Art, Mystetskyi Arsenal, Museum of Kyiv History, Karas Gallery (all in Kyiv), ILKO Gallery, “Uzhhorod” gallery, Yula Gallery, Galleries of Bari Gauman (Lviv); as well as at the galleries and festivals in Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Italy, the USA and other countries.

Pavlo Kovach lives and works in Uzhhorod.