Main Image: Denys Nedoluzhenko
Twentieth interview through images by Andrey Sheptunov.
Special Project: "You are in the army now"
Art cannot stand on the sidelines when a tragedy of such magnitude unfolds on one's native land. When guns speak, the muses do not fall silent — they put on "pixel" (military camouflage). We are opening a new, special chapter of our column dedicated to those authors who have exchanged comfortable studios for dugouts, and brushes for weapons.
The first hero of our special series "You are in the army now" is Denys Nedoluzhenko — an Odessa artist whose biography is as non-trivial as his works.
His path to art began not with an art academy, but with science — by his first education, Denys is a microbiologist and virologist, a graduate of the Odessa Mechnikov National University. Perhaps it was this background that formed his unique optics: he examines the urban environment as if under a microscope, "dissecting" reality without unnecessary pathos. Before the full-scale invasion, Denys was known as a bright representative of expressionism and "New Objectivity."
His Odessa is not a collection of glossy tourist postcards, but a honest, living organism of sleeping districts: with panel high-rises, street payment terminals, and the irony of everyday life. He was not afraid to go beyond the limits of galleries, staging performances directly in the urban environment — such as, for example, an exhibition in an underground pedestrian crossing dedicated to the "phantom pains" of the city.
However, February 24, 2022, changed everything. Denys became one of the first participants in the landmark exhibition "February Style" — an instant artistic reflection on the invasion. Soon, the artist made the decision to stand up for the country's defense with weapons in hand. Today, Denys Nedoluzhenko is a Junior Sergeant of the State Special Transport Service (DSST).
But even in the service, creativity found a way out. Finding himself in an army environment, Denys turned restrictions into an artistic device. Thus, right in the classrooms, his sharp graphic series "Motorola 1917" was born. Using pages from found old Soviet textbooks on pre-conscription training as a canvas, he deconstructs imperial myths, overlaying the propaganda of the past with images of the real war. This is art of direct action — created by a soldier in the intervals between performing combat tasks.
In this interview, there will be no long texts. According to the rules of our column, Denys will answer questions exclusively with his paintings.
1. Which of your works is your personal dialogue with classical art or the tradition of Odessa nonconformism?
2. Which of your works now, after some time, seems prophetic to you?
3. Which of your works turns an ordinary urban object into a symbol of time?
4. Which of your works serves as a kind of "portal" between your pre-war creativity and your current worldview?
5. Which of your works, in your opinion, best conveys the atmosphere of Odessa without the tourist gloss?
6. Which of your works visualizes your understanding of "expressionism" in contemporary Ukrainian art?
7. Which of your works became the first emotional reaction to the beginning of the full-scale invasion?
8. Which of your works from the "Motorola 1917" series most vividly deconstructs Soviet imperial myths?
9. Which of your works ironizes modern everyday life and the habits of city dwellers?
10. Which of your works best conveys your sense of transformation from a microbiologist and artist to a serviceman?
11. Which of your works was central to the "Human Traffic" project in the underground crossing and symbolized the city's "phantom pains"?
12. Which of your works satirically depicts politicians or bureaucracy?
Silence sometimes sounds louder than any words, especially when it is filled with such images. Denys Nedoluzhenko continues to serve and document reality — sometimes rough, sometimes ironic, but always honest. His works today are not just paintings; they are an artistic chronicle of our resistance and transformation.
Following Denys's work now means seeing the war, Odesa, and our history through the eyes of a person who is defending them in reality. Support Ukrainian art and our defenders.
Follow the artist's new works and updates on his pages:
- Instagram: nedoluzhenko_denys - here are the freshest processes and visual notes.
- Facebook: Денис Недолуженко - thoughts, announcements, and the life of an artist-soldier.
- Portfolio: DeviantArt - archive of works and full-size images.
