Biography
Oleksandr Olehovych Zhyvotkov (b. 1964, Kyiv) is a painter and sculptor. His father is the artist Oleh Zhyvotkov, his brother is the artist Serhiy Zhyvotkov, and his wife is the artist Hanna Hidora.
1988 – Graduated from the Kyiv State Art Institute.
From 1988 – Participant in art exhibitions.
1989 – Member of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine.
1992 – Member of the Zhyvopysnyi Zapovidnyk [Artistic Preserve] creative association, led by Tiberiy Silvashi.
1996 – Awarded the “Golden Section” Prize and the title of “Artist of the Year” at the International Art Festival, Kyiv.
2011 – Marked the beginning of his wooden sculpture period.
2025 – Honored Artist of Ukraine.
Lives and works in Kyiv.
The painting of Oleksandr Zhyvotkov, much like his wooden sculpture in recent years, represents a profound philosophical statement, a manifestation of faith in infinity, and an affirmation of the spiritual principle. His style is characterized by asceticism, a strictness of artistic means, and a deliberate restriction of his palette. “An extraordinarily talented artist! He knows how to convey colossal drama within a single color,” remarks fellow artist Anatoliy Kryvolap with genuine admiration.
“A fifth-generation artist, Zhyvotkov works on a canvas long and meticulously. Despite its external minimalism, his creations are born of hard labor. His canvases feature three, four, or five impasto layers of paint, making their physical weight almost tangible. The artist polishes the painterly surface like a jeweler refining a diamond. Both texture and the character of each brushstroke carry fundamental significance for him. The works absorb the subtle nuances of a single color scale; the artist avoids polychromy. The drawing in Zhyvotkov’s pieces is more a hint at an image, while the dominant role is reserved for pure painterly plasticity: in the 1990s, he belonged to the ‘Zhyvopysnyi Zapovidnyk’ group, which explored the ideas of Neoplasticism within abstract painting. One of the primary sources of inspiration for Zhyvotkov, a deeply religious man, is ancient icon painting. Echoes of spiritual culture assume an important semantic function, bringing spiritual light into his canvases. Reality also fruitfully nourishes the artist’s work—impressions gathered from travels and pilgrimages across Ukraine and abroad,” writes art historian Eduard Dymshyts.
