The works of the famous Odessa contemporary artist Stepan Ryabchenko will represent Ukraine at the World Expo Dubai 2020. The opening took place on October 1, 2021.
The project includes works from the âVirtual Landscapesâ series, computer animation of âVirtual Flowerâ, sculpture âWalking Cloudâ and a robot that draws graphics with a real pen and signs with the artist's signature.
Combining figurative and abstract futuristic language, Stepan Ryabchenko creates largescale digital prints and computer animation, which become "fragments" of the virtual universe he designed. Often the subjects of the image are imaginary plants and animals â the surrealistic appearance of the life form, existing according to the laws of the world created for them by the artist. The virtual landscapes in which Ryabchenko unfolds the stories of the characters are a self-sufficient multidimensional digital reality. Despite its technological digital origin, the appearance of this space is far from all urban and man-made. Using a component of technological development of mankind as a tool Stepan Ryabchenko appeals to the idea of human relationships with the natural environment.
«Stepan Ryabchenko is a pioneer of Ukrainian digital art and his works were an obvious choice to be included in such an outstanding international project. His surreal computer panoramas could be interpreted as an attempt to harmonise the physical reality and digital space. These bizarre shapes, hanging between the sky and the water surface, are in constant transformation, intertwining and forming new connections. It is a kind of illustration of the diversity and speed of the modern world as well as possible interactions in it. This is where the artist's vision meets the message of the Ukrainian pavilion, namely with our dreams and an inspired perspective towards the future. His digital art is a metaphor for the technologies that shape our complex and promising relationships», â Anna Avetova, curator