On February 28, the first in 22 years solo exhibition of anonymous graphic artist, designer and painter Rubae will open in Kyiv’s Ya Gallery art center. It is called ‘Destructivism’ and will demonstrate the artist’s transition from urban canvas and carriage depots to gallery space
Rubae’s new works will be shown to a wide audience for the first time. Among them are four wooden installations, seven mosaics, five canvases and interactive objects inspired by railroad depots. They are meant to show what ‘distinguishes real street bombing from vandalism’.
In a comment to DTF Magazine, the artist said that he started actively working on ‘Destructivism’ half a year ago. He created the works presented in the exhibition from 2017 to 2024. According to him, the ideas for some of the works emerged in the process of developing the exhibition. Among them is an installation with the title ‘Dungeon Portal’.
Graffiti will also be included in the exhibition. ‘Although not all works of the exhibition have to do with this form of visual communication, but the author’s experiments with art mediums began with graffiti, — the description of the announcement reads. — Urban canvas becomes an open territory without censorship and canons — and this is its unrivaled charm and soul’.
In recent years, Rubae has created more than a hundred graffiti (‘panels’) on freight cars of the Kovalska company. These works became the basis of his first art book, ‘which documents a unique period in the history of Ukrainian graffiti’. We told you more about the book, which, among other things, inspired the artist to create his own exhibition, here.
Where: 49B Khoryva Street, art center Ya Gallery.
When: 28th February, 17:00
About Rubae
Rubae is a Ukrainian graffiti artist from Ternopil, founder of his own brand Ugly Cool and author of one of the most famous tags in Kyiv.
He started creating under the pseudonym Silver in 2022. The author made his first drawing on a moving train in 2005. In 2006 he moved to Kyiv to study.
Since 2010, the graffiti artist has been creating works under the pseudonym Rubae. He painted the facade of Art-zavod Platforma, a sports complex in Kovalivka, F1 at the Vyshhorod Reservoir, and also worked with Pepsi refresh project and Terrasoft Company.
The author believes that each created ‘piece’ and tag are unique, but he likes to create large-scale works. And he considers his projects at the Karavaievi Dachi and Rusanivka railway stations in Kyiv to be some of the best graffiti in his practice.
The Strategic Media Support Program project will implement the Lviv Media Forum with the financial support of People in Need (PIN) and Pioneer Foundation.
