Painting, iron, neon
140 x 113 x 15 cm (each)

“In this period of Ukrainian life, the position of a citizen, a normal citizen, and the position of an activist have become very close,” Nikita Kadan (b. 1982, Kyiv, Ukraine) has previously stated. “To be a conscious citizen means to be a social-political activist now.” Kadan’s work is known for interweaving contemporary social and political issues in his country, Ukraine, within a framework of the country's history. Through this method, Kadan creates art that lives in tandem with his activism — the two are inseparable. In this work, The Sun and the Satellite, Kadan draws on Ukrainian architecture, which he often returns to as an essential topic in his practice. Architecture is used as a tool of discipline and a manifestation of authority in contemporary post-communist public spaces. The “sun” is a common form for a metal window grille in Ukraine and was the standard in the Soviet era. How the metal and the sunlight would interact hinted at the utopian future that the Soviet ideological narrative encouraged its citizens to believe in, despite the miserable existence that the majority faced during the regime. Here, in Kadan’s work, the sun is upended into a satellite silhouette — the sun is replaced by artificial neon light — there is tension between the reality of existence and a supposed future, between a common goal and personal needs and desires. Kadan here also revisits historical objects and their significance to express present-day issues — poverty and imbalanced social structures still exist in Ukraine, and to ignore the lessons of the past is dangerous. – Ethan Price

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.