About event
The past winter became a collective experience — lingering and filled with anxiety. It was a time of immense physical and emotional strain, a liminal state between despair and hope, frost and warmth, darkness and light.
The artist creates an alternative reality: icy, almost post-apocalyptic landscapes alongside the image of a mammoth — a reminder of the fragility of civilization and human vulnerability in the face of cold and uncertainty. His works warn of a potential human catastrophe, a return to the caves as a consequence of war. Yet, simultaneously, paintings featuring a compass, melting icicles, or an inspired young "admiral" with paper ships are charged with an inner light and warmth.
Anatoliy Varvarov continues to write a chronicle of the present day, documenting how we endure and overcome the war. There is no grandiosity in this chronicle, only the artist's experience, reflections, and his evolving perception of the world. These works are an attempt to comprehend how we navigate through trials and to emphasize the profound significance of life. In the words of Anatoliy Varvarov, "many of us have already learned not just to survive, but to live — fully, deeply, with a sense of value for every moment despite the war."
This exhibition is about hope that persists even in the darkest times, and the ability to protect one’s light and pass it on. It leaves the viewer with a sense of quiet confidence: warmth is bound to arrive because we have already learned to carry it within ourselves.
