Alfred Maksymenko “A-vision” as an authorial form of virtual exposition
Authors: Helytovych Andrii 
Published: July 2024

Using the example of works up to 2019, the author's method of virtual exposition of paintings "A-vision" of the famous Lviv contemporary artist and teacher A. Maksymenko is considered.
The goal is to single out and characterize the key features of the author's approach to the problem of virtual exhibition of works of art. The subject of the study is the inherent features of the combination of works of art with the exhibition environment in the "A-vision" form proposed by Maksymenko. Conclusions about the nature of the construction of the virtual space are drawn up in connection with the necessary concise analysis of the key features of the presented works. The considered samples include the works of 2006-2019, which present painting series about the impressions of visiting cities, combined into a cycle of album-catalogues "Reflections", work on which continues to this day. The A-vision formula based on the example of Reflections provides an exhibition project for a real space, but an independent presentation of paintings is also provided. The analysis of paintings in the article is presented only to the extent that it is necessary to reveal the peculiarities of visualization in the medium on which the emphasis is placed.
Since the author's virtual expositions have not yet been publicly widely presented and continue to be in a state of development, they have not yet become the subject of special investigations. The primary analysis of A-vision expositions convinces of the presence of interesting author's finds in the way of virtual presentation of artworks, which constitute value and novelty within the framework of art research. Visualization of the exposition takes place both in two- and three-dimensional space, includes elements of collage, and the materialization of the exhibition in A-vision is foreseen, although not mandatory, and requires active creative interpretation and making corrections on the spot. An assumption is put forward about the connection of such a conventional way of presentation with Maksymenko's tendency to conceptualize the creative process, to reduce painting works-objects to the most laconic physical expression, even reaching the level of dematerialization; the return of such transformed images to a physical state is possible in a variety of genres, in which the visual counterpart can serve as an effective means of conveying content. The construction of a close connection between the paintings and the space was noted, in which with the help of additional elements a renewed landscape environment is created – it has its own expression, develops and complements the theme of the exhibited works. Therefore, in addition to painting, presented in the Reflections, visualization can sometimes be perceived as the idea of an installation, thanks to the introduction of a person – as a performance project, or to interpret an exhibition, so deeply connected with the environment, as a form of environmental art. It is assumed that due to its conditional nature, the virtual exhibition will require more practical adaptation of the artistic idea to the needs of the particular environment, creative rethinking.