Ukranian artist Vitalii Khoma graduated at the National Fine Arts and
Architecture School of Kiev in 1997. Since then he has participated in many
exhibitions at his country and abroad.
Member of the Ukrainian Visual Artists Union, he collaborates with several international art galleries. Vitalii is working as teacher of drawing and painting in Kiev where he also helps artists that are suffering the Ukrainian war.
There is a drama in the history of each locality. The conflict between new and old. I am exploring the abandoned architecture of the place and the abandoned landscapes. When I get to a new city, country, I feel these places, research their history, try to understand the conflict that has occurred. These studies develop into art exposure or performance.
It began went to Odessa, where I saw an abandoned factory at the entrance to the city. It was magnificent and its structure as well. Fully windowless and abandoned. I remember that I was struck by such a contrast between the well-groomed modern unremarkable buildings and the decline of unique structures. I literally felt the pain and drama of this beauty, which, when destroyed, goes away.
The old leaves with the arrival of the new. When a new one appears, a conflict always happens. The conflict of forms, the conflict of the masses, the conflict of concepts, ideas and materials. With my project, I try to help these buildings withstand this fight by placing their Help Codes next to them. Help Codes silently appeal to the consciousness of society, as if talking: «Help me! I do not want to die. I’m leaving. You will never see me again. I used to be beautiful. Forgive me…»
