“I have a hidden secret, which my heart touches with paintings. For me, painting has infinity, like life. This is my opportunity to speak.”
Nina Denysova

Despite the fact that this exhibition was preceded by our long communication with Ms. Denysova, which became unexpectedly close and full of interesting facts about the artist’s life and work, writing a curatorial text turned out to be much more difficult than I had imagined. Because speaking about this, without exaggeration, an outstanding woman in the history of Ukrainian art, it was impossible to use the usual framework for museum explications – she was born, studied, created so many works, participated in such and such exhibitions. After all, the story of Nina Denysova’s development as an artist is inextricably linked to the complex history of our country. Moreover, they constantly overlap and reveal the complexity of her chosen profession, or, to be more precise, the particular complexity of the life of a woman artist in Ukraine. Given the fact that the history of Ukrainian art is still viewed mainly through a male lens, most women who began their careers in the “strong clutches of Socialist Realism” (according to Orest Holubets) still remain little known to the general public. Therefore, this exhibition is an important attempt to return subjectivity and voice to a woman, an artist who, gaining new experiences of visual language, learned to speak to humanity without words. Only by painting.

Nina Denysova’s artistic career began in the late 1950s when she entered the painting department of the Dnipro State Art School. Despite a fierce competition, she became the only girl in the course. It was here that she met her future husband, Mykola Malyshko (whom she would marry in her final year of study). Feeling the need for further education, Nina and her husband moved to Kyiv, where she did not get into the art institute because she spent all her time with her newborn daughter and supported her husband, who became a student at the Kyiv State Art Institute (now the National Academy of Arts and Crafts). Amidst the endless household chores, Denysova does not lose her desire to create, and it was during this time that she created a portfolio and applied to most Kyiv publishing houses. Persistence pays off, and the young, still completely unknown, but with great ambitions, artist is invited to cooperate with several of them at the same time.

Nina Denysova was born during the Second World War and, despite everything, has managed to retain a sincere and childlike view of most things in her difficult life. She is convinced that the time we live in makes us who we are. But our true core is laid in childhood. That is probably why a significant part of the artist’s creative life was associated with children’s illustration (in the cult children’s magazines Maliatko and Barvinok. Fruitful cooperation with the publishing houses “Dnipro”, ‘Molod’, “Veselka”, where Nina Denysova’s works adorned the collections of Pavlo Tychyna, Leonid Hlibov, Marko Vovchok, Mykola Vinhranovskyi, Dmytro Pavlychko and others).

The first book illustrations referred to the sources of folk art and the work of prominent graphic artists of the early 20th century. The laconic engravings that Nina Denysova created quite often in the 1960s almost always tended to be monumental and had one repeating detail: they were almost always framed. It was quite difficult for the artist to stay in the limited space of interpreting someone else’s word. She was constantly striving to get out of the strong framework of the only possible method of socialist realism, which, after a short thaw, began to reign with renewed vigor. Since real painting was still inaccessible (lack of her own studio, short deadlines for illustrations), Nina Denysova began to perceive book design as a theatrical performance. Her experiments with watercolors formed her own style, in which she moved away from excessive descriptiveness to minimal imagery. Space began to play a key role in her works. Lyricism, melody, and plasticity appeared in her works. Stain and color became important means of creation. Such freethinking could not but attract the attention of the regulatory authorities, and very soon Derzhkomvydav (the former State Committee for Publishing, Printing and Book Trade of Ukraine) banned Denysova from working with them because she was a “formalist.”

The 1970s in Ukraine are characterized as a period of economic stagnation and particular oppression of the intellectuals. Any manifestations of Ukrainian identity are severely punished. The development of art and culture is very limited by the framework of Soviet ideology. At this time, the dissident movement was actively developing. In Kyiv, apartment exhibitions were organized, featuring artists from the circle of unofficial art, such as Borys Plaksii, Fedir Tetianych, Ivan Marchuk, and Mykola Malyshko. These and many other artists do not participate in official exhibitions. The only way to survive is to create monumental works. Nina Denysova, in collaboration with Mykola Malyshko, is currently creating murals in Rubizhne (their fate is currently unknown) and in the Khmelnytskyi Children’s Library (the murals are preserved).

At the end of the 1980s, when the country was undergoing rapid changes, the Denysova-Malyshko family finally got a long-awaited studio on Andriivskyi Descent. It is from here that we can count the formation of Nina Denysova as a painter. At that time, new artistic centers appeared. In 1992, the Brotherhood of St. Alipiy was founded (which, in addition to Nina Denysova and Mykola Malyshko, also included Petro Honchar, Petro Malyshko, Oleksandr Melnyk, Volodymyr Fedko, and Vasyl Khymochka). The artists did not proclaim a manifesto, but at that time they were all united by a deep connection with the painting traditions of the Ukrainian people, in particular with the Boychukists, who were repressed in the 1930s, and the coloristic experience of the previously banned European art of modernism.

Nina Denysova’s art in the 1990s is a boundless field of inspired experiments. She is primarily interested in the search for form. A significant part of her paintings was created under the influence of her own experience with frequently repeated plots and symbolic elements. Despite the simplicity of the silhouettes, there is an emotional tension in the works. Regardless of the plot, stained glass and ornamental structures appear in the paintings (after Diana Klochko). According to the artist, at that time her painting was still in the grip of words. Using the technique of simultaneity in her works, the artist tries to conquer time and go beyond the limits of consciousness. In 1995, her first solo exhibition was held at the Khmelnytskyi Museum of Contemporary Ukrainian Art.

The next important stage in Nina Denysova’s work was her work with color. Realizing the temporality of her presence on earth, the artist cuts off everything superfluous (according to Rodin) and begins an instinctive search for a new visual language. Using minimal expressive means, the artist moves towards the most difficult thing – complete simplification. The lapidarism of the paintings from the “Painted” cycle is striking, because not every artist is ready to optimize themselves in such a way. Having created canvases in which black is the quintessence of all things, Nina Denysova has cognized true nirvana. The artist asks not to consider black as a symbol of grief or chaos. For her, it is rather a note of C, which begins a musical state. Without black, it is impossible to understand the importance and power of light, so by adding white dots and geometric elements to the works, Nina Denysova makes them vibrate and pulse on the canvas. The artist sincerely assures us that harmony remains the most important thing in this world, which is very important to seek in these difficult times.

The works of recent years are a triumphant hymn to plants and flowers that silently sprout through the wounded earth, no matter what. To understand the language of nature means to love, no matter what. And to continue, keeping your roots firmly in your native land.

The German philosopher Martin Heidegger argued that you can only gain experience of a language when you speak it.

Nina Denysova proved with her art that it is possible to speak without words. The indisputable fact of this is “PAINTED”.