War Surrealism by Ihor Panchuk

Ihor Panchuk. News. 2022. Oil on canvas

Ihor Panchuk is a Ukrainian artist whose work is better known by Polish viewers because after graduating from the Lviv National Academy of Arts, he moved to Poland, where he continued his professional development for eight years and held several solo exhibitions. They brought the artist recognition from the audience and a significant number of customers. The artist signed a contract with the Polish gallery Marzand.Eu, with whom he worked for two years.

Staying in Poland for a long time, the artist never separated himself from the Ukrainian people. In December 2021, when tensions between Ukraine and Russia were growing, despite all the threats and dangers, he decided to return to Lviv. The artist believes that at critical moments for their country, every conscious Ukrainian should be at home, even if they are not a military man, but a painter. In Lviv, the artist continues to paint. He does volunteer work and part of the proceeds from the sale of his works he transfers to the needs of the Armed Forces and civilians affected by the war.

Ihor Panchuk is consistent in his work. He is a man of few words in his statements, modest and unpretentious in everyday life, the artist creates images of extraordinary expressiveness. Having clearly outlined his individual creative program, and having developed his own style and handwriting, the artist step by step develops the task he has set himself - to create an image that perfectly matches the idea. This search is a difficult path for an artist. Always somewhat dissatisfied with his work, he notes: "For me, finishing work is extremely difficult because signing it is an admission of my own defeat! ". After all, there is no perfect image, there is only a way to achieve it.

Igor Panchuk’s work is characterised by subtle tonal nuance, restrained colour scheme, and careful study of details. The artist’s palette consists of several basic colours. Mostly dominated by blue or green, complemented by yellow and red. The works are often monochrome, based on tonal modeling of the form. His favourite format of the works is 140x100 cm. The figurative series consists of anthropomorphic and zoomorphic creatures, fantastical and allegorical in nature. The artist uses the method of multi-stage painting with glazes, according to the subjects he tends to surrealism. The artist tries to free himself from the control of the mind over the subconscious, turns to intuition, dreams, and delusions, and depicts the supernatural, the mystical, and the spiritual. As a rule, this is embodied in monumental compositions, which depict humanoid creatures with several pairs of arms, grotesquely exaggerated proportions with wings and masks instead of faces. Attention is focused on body plasticity, flexibility, tense poses and gestures, and special facial expressions, and concentration, which conveys a wide range of emotions from melancholy and sadness to pleasure and ecstasy. The artist skilfully paints drapery, which often, like fetters, intertwines the hands of the characters, covers the face, and envelops the body.

One of Ihor Panchuk’s most expressive works written in Lvivis "TheNews". Usually, the artist works for a long time to create an image - from everal weeks to several months. However, the artist completed the painting in ust a few days. In the evening on the eve of the war, he put the finishing touch - a burgundy square in the image’s eyebrow, in place of the "thirdeye" or Ajna chakra, which marked the fulfillment of the prophecy. The painting depicts a surreal winged creature holding a letter. We can only speculate whether it received it or brought it. Involuntarily, there is an association with the biblical myth of the Annunciation, when the archangel Gabriel announced to the Virgin

Mary that she would give birth to Jesus Christ, the Son of God. In this context, given the circumstances and the information tension in which the painting was created, we can understand that the news is not good - war in Ukraine is unavoidable. And so it happened. The next morning after the painting was  completed, a rocket attack was launched across Ukraine and a full-scale invasion of Russian troops. The work was created in cold colours. The colour blue in the shading creates a sense of icy horror, marking the approach of a tragedy of a colossal scale. The work was presented in the City Museum of the German town of Padeborn at the exhibition "One Step Before War" (curated by Marina Streltsova) in May 2022.

Today, the artist is working on a series of paintings called "24" (by the date of the beginning of the full-scale war). Ten works of large format, in which the artist showed all the horrors of the bloody war through allegorical images. Kharkiv-based artist Oleksandr Serdiuk spoke about this series: "Igor Panchuk’s works are multifaceted. They express the tension of the present time. In addition, they deepen into their personal labyrinths of reflection. This is what attracts me to surrealistic multi-significant compositions".

As practice shows, when the cannons speak, the muses are not silent. The Roman proverb does not work in Ukraine. When our country is at war, it does not occupy anyone. The military defends it, artists work for the future, and maybe for eternity. Everyone is doing their job honestly, devotedly, and without noise. In this circle, there is an artistic work of the taciturn Ihor Panchuk.

Ivan Bilan

Ph.D. in art history,

Head of the Art Module Art Association.

No title, 2021. Oil on canvas, 90х90

Nest, 2021. Oil and acrylic on canvas, 90х90

Flowers of winter 1, 2021. Oil and acrylic on canvas, 90х90

Flowers of winter 2, 2021. Oil and acrylic on canvas, 90х90

Death, 2021. Oil on canvas, 80х80

No title, 2020. Oil on canvas, 80х70

News. 2022. Oil on canvas, 140х100

Series 24 1, 2022. Oil on canvas, 140х100

Series 24 3, 2022. Oil on canvas, 140х100