Art at the Institute is delighted to present “Miscellanea,” an exhibition of color etchings by the Lviv-based Ukrainian artist Roman Romanyshyn. An opening reception for the artist will be held on Friday, November 16 from 6:00 to 8:00 PM, with the exhibition remaining on view through November 28. Curated by Walter Hoydysh, Ph.D., this exhibition marks Romanyshyn’s first solo showing with The Ukrainian Institute of America.

The city of Lviv, in western Ukraine, is synonymous with printmaking. Romanyshyn’s iconic and characteristic approach to narrative graphics, illustration and printing is practiced within the deep reaches of a centuries-old Leopolitan tradition that includes modern and contemporary peers the likes of Ihor Bilykovsky, Oleh Denysenko, Bohdana Fedorovych, Ivan Ostafiychuk, Volodymyr Pihinin, Ihor Podolchak, Bohdan Soroka, and Myron Yatsiv.

Romanyshyn draws much of his inspiration from literature, fables and folklore. As if from a youthful perspective, he rediscovers antiquated and familiar subjects — whether planetary and zodiacal, the story of Alice in Wonderland, or the Wives of Henry VIII — illuminating them with equal child-like abandon. 

His meticulous and dimensional multi-plate intaglio process certainly demonstrates an artisanal way to draughtsmanship and illustration. It is intimate. It is authentic. It is alive. It contains something irreplaceable from the now ubiquitous digital sphere. The figures that dominate his work are elaborate character reveries and his cosmic and earthly landscapes are complex, all of which make the worlds Romanyshyn creates so enchanting and engaging. 

Roman Romanyshyn is a graduate of the Lviv State Institute of Decorative and Applied Arts. Besides printmaking, he is also engaged in illustration, painting, and sculpture. His graphic works are widely exhibited and collected throughout Europe, and have won international awards for printmaking, among them, the 14th Mini Print International, Barcelona (Spain), 9th International Miniature Print Exhibition, Seoul (South Korea), 4th International Painting Biennial of the Carpathian Euroregion, Przemysl (Poland). He lives and works in Lviv.

Exhibition hours: Tuesday to Sunday from 12:00 – 6:00 PM.