Prodigious Kiev Murals

In recent years, on the outer walls of Kiev buildings have appeared bright and large-scale drawings – Kiev Murals, which some people consider real works of art, and others criticize and call them a provincial art.

So, “murals” – is one of the varieties of the modern outdoor paintings which belongs to the street -art artists.

Murals are different from graffiti by the artistic content and immensity of performance.

In Ukraine, for the past two years, patriotic murals have gained particular popularity.

Talented artists from Ukraine, Portugal, Argentina, Spain, Australia diluted the urban landscape of Kiev with portraits, landscapes, and abstractions.

I would like to tell you about some awesome Kiev murals, which I personally find incredible. Some of them you may observe on my Kiev tours.

Kiev Street Art

Mural with a flock of black crows by Ukrainian artist Alexander Brytsev. The author called it “Herald of life”. There is a white crown among the flock, it’s a symbol of good news and the birth of a new life.

By the way, the location of the mural is symbolic. In the residential yard of the street, there is a cage with huge crows who have been living there for more than twenty years. The local residents say that these birds understand the human language.

A yellow tit, which pawed at the bulb, drawn around the window. It’s a mural called “Freedom” created by the Ukrainian artist Alex Maxiov within the anti-war project ArtUnitedUs.

This work by the Ukrainian artist from Donetsk Alexander Grebenyuk. The author depicted a peculiar allegorical circle: a man working at the printing machine, who himself consists of lots of his own essays on sheets of papers. In other words, this mural is dedicated to people who create themselves, on the analogy of journalists or writers.

A Spanish artist Sebastián Velasco Navarro depicted a man against the background of the night city – it looks fascinating!

This painting by the Belgian artist ROA took five days and was slowed by a painful foot problem of the artist. Look at these huge unreal monochrome animals!

Futuristic mural “Merry-go-round” by the Polish street art artist Mariusz M-City Varas which he created within the CityArt project.

A Lviv street artist Taras Arm decorated the wall of the municipal center of medical statistics with the flight of swans. At sunny cloudless daytime, the drawing looks amazing!

Mosaic “Happy Childhood” was created by the sculptor Konstantin Skretutskiy (his style resembles the works of Andy Warhol). The work consists of 8 mosaic portraits of children. The author says that the children depicted in the mosaic portraits are real, they are kids of his good friends. The creation of the multicolored mosaic took about a month (the work of 2010).

The author of the mural “The Dreamer” is an Australian artist Fintan Magee. Here is depicted a Ukrainian world champion in rhythmic gymnastics Ganna Rizatdinova, a native of Crimea. The artist is personally acquainted with Ganna. We see the gymnast in a jump in casual clothes, so that a passer-by will hardly recognize a well-known athlete in the picture.

Quite an interesting mural created by Vladimir Manzhos, an artist from the art duet “Interesting fairy tales”. The plot reflects the fateful events that are taking place nowadays both locally in Ukraine and globally in the world. There is a Cossack with six hands, a snake with Putin’s face, burning tires and a sandglass. The author says that this mural is an improvisation. “Let people think out allegories and look for parallels. This is my vision of what has happened in Ukraine, Kiev during 2013-2014 “, says Vladimir. The picture occupies about 150 square meters. The whole composition is varnished.

The mural which was not perceived by many Kievites. Some people consider drawing psychedelic. Though the author, a Ukrainian artist Dima Fatum, says that in the heart of the mural plot lies the lithograph of Boris Chorikov (1836) “Prince Yaroslav’s guidance to his sons, 1054” which runs about the parting words of the Prince before his death.

Amazing mural “Ukrainian St.George” by the Ukrainian artists Alexei Bordusov and Vladimir Manzhos. A fairy-tale mural near the Landscape alley depicts a Cossack with a head of a falcon, who fights with a serpent. According to the author’s idea, the warrior symbolizes Ukrainian people, and the serpent – all the sorrows and obstacles which the country stands opposite.

“Revival”, a drawing by the French graffiti artist Julien Mallan and the artist from Sevastopol (Crimea) Alexey Kislov. The artists depicted a girl in a wreath – a national Ukrainian symbol, below are elements of the ancient Kiev landscape and faces of Cossacks. The mural shows us a new Ukraine, which has awoken from a long sleep. This image embodied in the face of a young girl who protects her land and a new generation: the boy in her hand is looking forward to the future with hope. Blue circles above the head of the girl symbolize Ukraine’s transition to a new level of consciousness.

The bas-relief of Serhiy Nigoyan in the park of Heavenly Hundred in Mikhailovskaya Str. by the famous Portuguese artist Alexandro Fartu “Vhils”. Serhiy Nigoyan, a 20-year old Euromaidan activist, the only son of his parents was the first shot and killed during the Revolution in 2013-2014. The mural is a present from the artist to Kiev. The peculiarity of the work is that it is not painted but literally carved on the wall of the old house.

Alexandro’s tools are a hammer, a drill, and a chisel: he does not paint portraits of people with paint from a can, but he carves them right on the plaster of the walls of old buildings, previously drawing a sketch. His faces are voluminous and realistic, memorable and touching: it’s impossible to pass them without noticing. Alexandro Fartu creates his portraits all around the world but admits that he is especially interested in countries where serious social changes are taking place. He says that Nigoyan’s portrait is his tribute to the Ukrainians.

If you decide to have a walk and see some of the amazing Kiev murals you may use this interactive map of Kiev Murals – kyivmural.com. Kievan Serhiy Grishkevich made an electronic map on which he marked the Kiev murals. And in case you need an engaging and caring Kiev private guide to create the best tour for you, get in contact with me!

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