Yuriy Bolsa, Without darkness there will be no light. I am afraid to step into the light, 2026, Photo by Yuriy Bolsa
Yuriy Bolsa, Your helping hand is not needed — what is needed is an illusion that will lead the feet that have stumbled into a crater and taken offence at the road not being restored, 2026, Photo by Yuriy Bolsa
The presentation examines individuals under immense stress and trauma.
Raised in Chervonohrad — an industrial city that instills perpetual sadness, Yuriy Bolsa underwent a 6-year self-imposed isolation. He thus explores the tension between confronting reality and searching for an escape. His paintings navigate the guilt of seeking beauty at a time when others cannot. During a war, it is a question of ignorance versus hope, a meditation on trauma and naivety.
Yuriy Bolsa (b. 1997, Chervonohrad, Ukraine) is a self-taught Kyiv-based artist whose practice explores loneliness, alienation, and socio-political ruptures. Nominee of PinchukArtCentre Prize 2025. Recent exhibitions include Mala Gallery of Mystetskyi Arsenal, M17 Contemporary Art Center in Kyiv, and group shows in Vienna, Venice, Berlin, and Warsaw.
13 Tereshchenkivska Street
01004 Kyiv
Ukraine