Information about the work
The collection of the Khmelnytskyi Regional Art Museum contains 16 paintings and graphic works by Ihor Skorupskyi. The triptych Memory [Pam`yat] (canvas, oil, 1990) was purchased directly from the artist in 1990. This piece occupies a unique place in his oeuvre, standing apart through its austere palette and concise visual vocabulary. The vibrant, optimistic palette seen in works like Morning, Flight, Spring, Mood, Ukraine, and Flowers—which drew on childhood memories of the Prykarpattia region, the nature of Podillia, stylized still lifes, and symbolic ethnographic compositions—disappears entirely in this dramatic triptych dedicated to the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. Given its profound psychological impact on society, some art historians divide contemporary Ukrainian art history into two distinct eras: pre- and post-Chernobyl.
The triptych is predominantly achromatic, punctuated only by sparse strokes of red and subtle nuances of blue. Against the backdrop of a black sun, a merciless radioactive wind blows, stripping trees bare; black-and-white apples are recognizable only by their outlines, blushing faintly in an abstract haze; ghostlike silhouettes of houses evoke children’s drawings made from memory—a memory of life destroyed by a man-made catastrophe.
In the central panel, a prone figure with a limply collapsed hand appears to cling to the roof of a house, gazing toward a black sky that once brought joy, health, and inspiration, but now harbors invisible danger. The artist seeks to render this invisible threat tangible through a white-and-blue glow across all three panels, heightening feelings of dread, despair, and hopelessness. In Skorupskyi’s view, collective memory must not falter, ensuring society learns its lesson regarding the extreme fragility of life and the reckless misuse of scientific advancement.
Canvas, oil. 50 × 74
