The work of Nikita Kadan (born 1982 in Kiev) centers on his artistic exploration of post-communist social and political developments, and their origins and causes in the Soviet system. Kadan produces drawings, paintings, and photography as well as objects, sculptures, and installations. The artist is a sensitive and critical observer and interpreter of historical shifts, and also of the connections and continuities between the communist past and turbo-capitalist present. He is a member of the artists’ group R.E.P. (Revolutionary Experimental Space) and co-founder of the activists’ group Hudrada. As an activist in the field of art and politics, Kadan also works with architects, sociologists, and human rights activists.
In his exhibitions, the artist addresses the visibility and function of the artistic avant-garde in Ukraine within contemporary neoliberalism, which—in the conflict with Russia—is shaped by a politics based on military goals and an ideology of anti-solidarity in the fabric of society.
‘Stop War’ series, 2023, charcoal on paper, 29,7 x 40,7 cm, T8644‘Stop War’ series, 2023, charcoal on paper, 29,7 x 40,7 cm, T8643‘Stop War’ series, 2023, charcoal on paper, 29,7 x 40,7 cm, T8642‘Stop War’ series, 2023, charcoal on paper, 29,7 x 40,7 cm, T8641‘Stop War’ series, 2023, charcoal on paper, 29,7 x 40,7 cm, T8640‘Stop War’ series, 2023, charcoal on paper, 29,7 x 40,7 cm, T8639‘Stop War’ series, 2023, charcoal on paper, 29,7 x 40,7 cm, T8638‘Stop War’ series, 2023, charcoal on paper, 29,7 x 40,7 cm, T8637‘Stop War’ series, 2023, charcoal on paper, 29,7 x 40,7 cm, T8636‘Stop War’ series, 2023, charcoal on paper, 29,7 x 40,7 cm, T8635‘Stop War’ series, 2023, charcoal on paper, 29,7 x 40,7 cm, T8633‘Stop War’ series, 2023, charcoal on paper, 29,7 x 40,7 cm, T8632‘Stop War’ series, 2023, charcoal on paper, 29,7 x 40,7 cm, T8631‘Stop War’ series, 2023, charcoal on paper, 29,7 x 40,7 cm, T8630‘Stop War’ series, 2023, charcoal on paper, 29,7 x 40,7 cm, T8629‘Stop War’ series, 2023, charcoal on paper, 29,7 x 40,7 cm, T8628‘Stop War’ series, 2023, charcoal on paper, 29,7 x 40,7 cm, € 900
‘Cheap Gas Cheap Blood’, 2022
SovMod Skull 1 – 5
Nikita Kadan, SovMod Skull 4, 2021, charcoal and collage on paper, 40,7 x 29,7 cm, € 2.700Nikita Kadan, SovMod Skull 5, 2021, charcoal and collage on paper, 40,7 x 29,7 cm, € 2.700
The series is inspired by the movement Save Kyiv Modernism, or Save Ukrainian/Soviet Modernism, that recently emerged in Ukraine. This is a movement of mostly young people. Soviet Modernism or SovMod refers to the Soviet architecture of 1960–80s that is being brutally destroyed or reconstructed for commercial purposes in today’s Ukraine. This movement is political because it opposes the so-called ‘politics of de-communisation’, in other words, state anti-communism, which gives its green light to the destruction of various forms of Soviet heritage. On the other hand, those who participate in the SovMod movement treat this architecture as if it represented a dead modernity, in a rather historicist way. This aestheticisation and melancholic gaze became political to the extent that they oppose an aggressive reactionary nationalism and the commercialisation of public space of Ukrainian cities. Such an encounter between aesthetics and politics contains something paradoxical. Another paradox that characterises this situation is that in the Soviet Union these buildings were never called ‘modernist’. ‘Modernism’ was only used in a strictly negative sense. The skulls painted by Pablo Picasso often served as illustrations for anti-modernist books, such as The Crisis of Ugliness: From Cubism to Pop-Art (1968) by Mikhail Lifshitz. Soviet discussions about modernism and modernity are now almost forgotten and Soviet architecture and monumental art have been turned into ‘Soviet Modernism’ for a younger generation. I picture modernist skulls by Picasso as protecting SovMod building fetishes that still remain untouched in Kyiv, Dnipro, Odessa or in the war zone of Donetsk.
Nikita Kadan, Source: Afterall Journal nr 52, March 2022
Tiger’s Leap
Tiger’s Leap, 5 pieces, 2021, 190 x 35 x 35 cm [x5], price on request. as exhibited in Museum Morsbroich, Leverkusen, 02.05 – 29.08.2021
Children Are Surrounded by Art
Republic of the Sun, 2021, collage, 30 x 40 cm, € 1.500On the notion of ‘Golden Age’ II, 2021, Collage on Soviet paper with floral print and architectural silhouettes, 22 x 30 cm, € 900The Library sculpture II (for the President of The Planet Earth), 2021, metal & wood covered with plaster, red paint and leaf gold, € 4.000The Crossed Out Portrait, 2021, oil on canvas, 150 x 125 cm, € 11.000The Mask, 2021, oil on canvas, 140 x 105 cm, € 6.000 The Mask II (Minska station). 2021, charcoal on paper, 64,5 x 49,5 cm, € 2.400The Mask V (Minska station). 2021, charcoal on paper, 64,5 x 49,5 cm, € 2.400The Mask VI (Minska station). 2021, charcoal on paper, 64,5 x 49,5 cm, € 2.400The Mask III (Minska station). 2021, charcoal on paper, 64,5 x 49,5 cm, € 2.400
The Beautiful Colonizer, 2020
The Beautiful Colonizer, 2020, oil paint on canvas, 120 x 100 cm, collection M HKA, AntwerpenPark Pioneer 2, 2020, charcoal on paper, 42,2 x 29,3 cm, private collection Poland The Beautiful Colonizer, 2020 In the prices is the Belgian VAT [21%] included
The Masks, 2020
The Mask [Lenin], 2020, charcoal on paper, 59,5 x 42,2 cm, framed, € 2.400The Mask II [Demon], 2020, charcoal on paper, 59,5 x 42,2 cm, framed, € 2.400The Mask III [Oscar Schlemmer], 2020, charcoal on paper, 59,5 x 42,2 cm, framed, € 2.400The Mask II [Demon], 2020, charcoal on paper, 59,5 x 42,2 cm, framed, € 2.400The Mask IV [Archipenko], 2020, charcoal on paper, 59,5 x 42,2 cm, framed, € 2.400The Masks, 2020 In the prices is the Belgian VAT of 21% included
Flags, 2016 & 2017
The Serpent on a Red Flag, 2016, charcoal on paper, 197 x 145 cm, € 9.500In the prices is the Belgian VAT of 21% included
‘Dark Air’ & ‘Devils’, 2016
Dark Air 1, 2016, drawing on photo, framed, 60 x 42 cm, € 3.000Dark Air 2, 2016, Charcoal on photo, framed, 60 x 42 cm, € 3.000Dark Air 4, 2016, Charcoal on photo, framed, 60 x 42 cm, € 3.000Dark Air 5, 2016, Charcoal on photo, framed, 60 x 42 cm, € 3.000Dark Air 7, 2016, Charcoal on photo, framed, 60 x 42 cm, € 3.000Dark Air 8, 2016, drawing on photo, framed, 50 x 71 cm, € 3.000Dark Air 9, 2016, drawing on photo, framed, 50 x 71 cm, € 3.000Dark Air 10, 2016, drawing on photo, framed, 50 x 71 cm, € 3.000The Scientist and the Devil, 2016, drawing on photo, framed, 71 x 50 cm, € 3.000Serpents, 2016, drawing on photo, framed, 50 x 71 cm, € 3.000Dark Air, 2016 In the prices is the Belgian VAT of 21% included
Everybody Wants to Live by the Sea, 2014 & 2016
Everybody Wants to Live by the Sea, 2014 & 2016, Gouache & inkjet print on Museum Etching Paper, 47,3 x 64 cm, availability and price only by request
Observations on Archives, 2015
Observations on Archives – Prof. Boleslav Ivashkevich, 2015, photo in wooden frame with coal, ed 3 + 1 ea, 32 x 22 x 7 cm, € 2.500Observations on Archives, D. Oppenheim, 2015, photo in wooden frame with coal, ed 3 + 1 ea, 32 x 22 x 7 cm, € 2.500
Delineation of the borders, 2015
Delineation of the borders, 2015, watercolor and ink on two different papers, 64 x 48 cm unique, € 1.500Delineation of the borders, 2015, watercolor and ink on two different papers, 64 x 48 cm unique, € 1.500Delineation of the borders, 2015, watercolor and ink on two different papers, 64 x 48 cm unique, € 1.500Delineation of the borders, 2015, watercolor and ink on two different papers, 64 x 48 cm unique, € 1.500Delineation of the borders, 2015, watercolor and ink on two different papers, 64 x 48 cm unique, € 1.500Delineation of the borders, 2015, watercolor and ink on two different papers, 64 x 48 cm, unique, € 1.500
Neon Sun Grid, as exhibited in Nikita Kadan’s solo show Engineering Hope in Art Brussels 2014, booth galerie Transit
Private Sun, as exhibited in Nikita Kadan’s solo show Engineering Hope in Art Brussels 2014, booth Transit galleryPrivate Sun [Neon Sun Grid], 2014, neon on wood, ed. 3, 175 x 123 x 16 cm, € 10.000, as exhibited in Nikita Kadan’s solo show Engineering Hope in Art Brussels 2014, booth Transit gallery
Procedure Room, 2009
Procedure Room, 2009-2010, hot print on porcelain | 8 plates | ed 50, diameter 28 cm, ed 19/50, price by request