Biography.
Oleksii Shcherbak was born in 1997 in Chernihiv, Ukraine. He has been drawing since early childhood, inspired by cartoons, video games and comics. In 2012 Oleksii entered the Taras Shevchenko State Art School in Kyiv. In 2015 he entered the National Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture (NAFAA) in the easel painting department (2015-2017), and later in the free graphics department (2017-2019)since that period, Oleksii has been developing his master skills as a painter.
The artist created a large series of illustrations for various board games(Archeterica) comics and books(Nebo Booklab Publishing) During the latter period, he was involved in the development of characters for video games as a senior concept artist(Vertpaint Studio, United Kingdom )
4 months after the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, the artist arrived in Paris, where he entered l'école des Beaux-Arts (2022-…
Oleksii works with galleries and Art Centres from all over the world, participates exhibitions and art fairs . His works are in private collections in Europe , England , USA and China.
Artist Statement
When he was 5 years old, he believed that every character he drew was born on another planet, somewhere very far away. This has become a leading theme in his artistic path.
Oleksii discover the experience of feelings often through mysterious characters who sometimes look like his friends or strangers.
Mainly reflect on the basic existential questions of personality, love and the relationship between people, their connection with inner universe and the world around them, using various media - oil, pencils and digital tools.
An artist deeply fascinated by the realms of escapism and sublimation, and how they open the way for us to explore the world in a unique and magical way. In his artistic practice, he strives to create enigmatic characters and construct a magic universe that invites viewers to embark on an extraordinary journey.
In this realm of my phantasmagoria, and under the influence of the ultra-fast external pace of conceptual contemporary art, Oleksii strives to preserve and reinterpret the vast historical heritage of figurative, academic art by old and contemporary masters such as Rembrandt, Bosch, Dürer Odd Nerdrum, Nicola Samori, James Jean, Phil Hale, Mortimer, etc. By combining elements of reality and fantasy, artist strives to reveal hidden emotions and hitherto unknown sensory experiences that live in each of us. With his works, he invites viewers to plunge into a grotesque fairy tale where the ordinary becomes extraordinary, where the limitations of our everyday life are overcome and the characters create their own story, which we can only guess at.
Exhibitions and publications
-“Victims of Grenouilles” solo exhibition, Rukh Art Hub & Mriya Gallery , New York 2024
-The Guide Artists Magazine -Special of Oleksii Shcherbak, Spain/USA 2024
-Ecole des Beaux-arts, group exhibition of atelier Olivier Blanckart, Paris 2023
-Test Gallery, solo exhibition, Barcelona 2023
-ImagineArt gallery, exhibition “Point of Time” , Barcelona 2022
-Exhibition « Duo » The Atelier/Gallery SCI Tribeca Studio , Paris 2022
- «Emerging Art in Ukraine » CP publishing, 2022
-Italian magazine “Contemporary Identities” article 2021
-Art market Budapest 2021
-Nebo Booklab Publishing « Jane Eyre » (illustrator) 2021
-Playboy Ukraine article in Art section 2021
-Art-fair "Paper positions Berlin 2021"
-Online exhibition "Isolation Collection, Description of a Struggle," Prague, 2020;
-All-Ukrainian Exhibition "Graphics-2018;" -Educatorium "Escape" solo exhibition, Kiev 2018; -AKT "Future" сollective exhibition, Kiev 2017;