Paintings on paper became Marija Prymatjenko’s main means of expression and now more than 40 of her works created over 50 years are presented. She painted flamboyant flowers, fantastic creatures and mixed reality and fantasy, everyday life and party. Her pictures bear traces of sadness and pain.
The exhibition originates from the fact that both Pablo Picasso (1881–1973) and Marija Prymatjenko participated in the World Exhibition in Paris in 1937. There, Picasso showed his painting “Guernica”, which, like many of Prymatjenko’s works of art, has become a symbol of peace. Several of the artworks Prymatjenko exhibited in 1937 are included in the exhibition. In addition to war, Prymatchenko experienced both famine and disaster. She was born in Bolotnya in the Polesia area, 50 km from Chernobyl, which has become synonymous with the nuclear disaster. She comments on the outside world in her titles, praying for peace and cursing war, addressing individuals and politicians as in the 1986 title: “Mr. Reagan, look at this picture and understand how heavy and disturbing and foolhardy the atom is. Look after and make peace with us so that there will be peace on earth”.
A few days after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the museum in Prymatchenko’s home district of Ivankiv was the target of attacks and several of her paintings were destroyed. The attack shows how art is used in warfare and as a means of strategy to destroy a people and a culture.
Marija Prymatjenko’s works are on loan from the National Museum of Decorative Art of Ukraine. All use of images is with permission from the Foundation Creative Heritage of Maria Prymachenko Family.
Participating artists: Alexander Calder, Marc Chagall, Lena Cronqvist, Lourdes Fernandez, Susanna Marcus Jablonski, Asger Jorn, Runo Lagomarsino, Lou Laurin-Lam, Egon Möller-Nielsen, Amelia Peláez del Casal, Pablo Picasso, Lars Pirak, Niki de Saint Phalle , Marija Prymatjenko, Max Walter Swanberg, Adja Yunkers.
