Charcoal on paper
64 x 84 cm (framed)

"The Sun" by Nikita Kadan belongs to The Shadow on the Ground series, which he started working on during the first month of the invasion. A black-plowed field and dark human silhouette become barely distinguishable on the field. These series possess what the artist calls an “eschatological optimism.” “They are about terrible things, but I also try to get some source of energy from this catastrophe happening."

The work of Nikita Kadan (born in 1982 in Kyiv) centers on his artistic exploration of post-communist social and political developments and their origins and causes in the Soviet system. The artist is a sensitive and critical observer and interpreter of historical shifts and the connections and continuities between the communist past and turbo-capitalist present. As a significant figure in the Ukrainian art scene, Nikita Kadan has become the voice and witness of the Ukrainian situation since the beginning of the war provoked by the Russian forces in March 2022. Nikita Kadan is a member of the artist group R.E.P. (Revolutionary Experimental Space) since 2004 and co-founder and member of the curatorial group and activities HUDRADA since 2008. He graduated from the National Academy of Fine Arts in Kyiv, where he studied monumental painting; he now works with installation, graphic design, painting, wall drawings, and posters in the city, sometimes in interdisciplinary collaboration with architects, human rights activists, and sociologists.