the project is supported by SPIN
Supporting Principal Investigators 2024
Alexey
KOVALCHUK
My artistic vision is influenced by Japanese graphics, Soviet posters and the works of Art Nouveau artists such as Toulouse Lautrec and Aubrey Beardsley. My works often reflect historical and cultural contexts, biblical references and contemporary challenges.
For the last two years I have focused on creating opposition/anti-war illustrations, expressing my position against the war in Ukraine. Having witnessed this tragedy, I believe in the power of art as a tool for protest and change in society.
📍 Russia →
Ukraine
Films "Nich" and "Kyiv"
After 24.02.22, I found myself in the epicenter of events, in the capital of a country torn apart by war, listening to the wail of sirens and the rumble of artillery coming from the outskirts, piercing the silence of the curfew.
Then I realized that illustrations were not enough: to convey the atmosphere of war with its anti-tank hedgehogs, destroyed houses and empty streets, it was necessary to capture all this on video.
The first film I made was "Kyiv". The filming took place in the warmth of April, when everything around was in bloom,
and it seemed that the war would soon end. The film was divided
into two parts: after showing the difficult scenes of the extinct city, in the finale the hero again found himself in a sunny, peaceful time.
A year later, the optimism and hope that it would end someday disappeared. The war became an integral part of life, a constant news item, as if it had always existed.
It was at that moment that I came up with the idea of making a film about a man lost in this war.
