Ilya Chichkan

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Ironic and provocative painter, symbol of Ukraine’s “New Wave” Categories: Paintings

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on M-ART since: 2026

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“My art is a challenge to silence: when canvas meets history and culture, irony becomes a language that asks questions rather than giving answers.”

Illya Chichkan (b. 1967, Kyiv) is a leading Ukrainian painter and a key figure of the “New Wave.” His paintings are marked by irony, provocation and playful deconstruction of cultural archetypes. He represented Ukraine at the Venice Biennale (2009) and took part in Manifesta 5, São Paulo, Johannesburg, Prague and Belgrade Biennales.

Born in Kyiv in 1967 into an artistic family, Illya Chichkan became one of the central figures of Ukraine’s “New Wave” and the Paris Commune squat in the 1990s. His practice is rooted exclusively in painting, using irony, grotesque and cultural quotations to subvert official narratives and pop culture codes. He represented Ukraine at the 53rd Venice Biennale (2009) and participated in Manifesta 5 (2004), the São Paulo Biennale (1996), the Johannesburg Biennale (1997), as well as the Prague and Belgrade Biennales. His iconic “Psychodarwinism” series introduced ape imagery as a metaphor for society and secured his reputation as a provocateur in contemporary Ukrainian art.

Credentials

Solo exhibitions

2023 Psychodarvinism WAR (retrospective), New Inn Yard Studios, London
2021 Psychodarwinism. Practical Humanism, Museum of Modern Art of Odesa
2017 Psycho Evolution, Kyiv
2016 Marxism-Darwinism, Kyiv
2015 Scissors Plot, Bereznitsky Aesthetics, Kyiv
2015 Privat Pinacotheca, Kyiv
2013 Dedovshchina, Dymchuk Gallery, Kyiv
2011 Monkeywood, Collection Gallery, Kyiv
2010 Dermo & zoloto, Chocolate House, Kyiv
2010 Inventory, Bereznitsky Gallery, Kyiv
2009 Household Surrealism, Kyiv
2009 Footpassenger, Lab Garage Gallery, Kyiv
2009 Ch&P junior, Hyatt Regency, Kyiv
2009 Waste Paper, pop-up art, Kyiv
2008 Games of Mind, Kyiv
2007 Mind-Player, Marat Guelman Gallery, Moscow
2007 Mind Games, Galerie In Situ Fabienne Leclerc, Paris
2006 Ukrainians, Tsekh Gallery, Kyiv
2006 KISSKI, Kyiv
2005 TIMEOUT, DAAD Gallery, Berlin
2005 Totalitarian Darwinism, Kyiv
2005 Psychodarwinism, Marat Guelman Gallery, Moscow
2004 L.S.D. Rabbits, Belgrade (Repair Gallery)
2004 Pops Art, Kyiv
2004 Black Eyes (Fingaly), Kyiv
2003 Ukrainian Lolitas, Kyiv
2002 P.V.O., Kyiv
2001 Girls and Rabbits, Regina Gallery, Moscow
2001 Illya Chichkan (self-titled), Kyiv
2001 Girls and Rabbits (2nd iteration), Kyiv
2000 New Paintings, L-Art Gallery, Kyiv
2000 Sleeping Princesses of Ukraine, Mulhouse, France
1996 Chichkan Party, Kyiv
1994 Alter Idem, Brama Arts Center, Kyiv
1993 Genetic Mutations, Kyiv

Group exhibitions

2024 2025 — Bastion: Artyści Ukraińscy o Wojnie, Silesian Museum, Katowice, Poland
2022 Ukraine: Short Stories. Contemporary artists from Ukraine, MAXXI, Rome, Italy
2017 Research Platform: Motherland on Fire, PinchukArtCentre, Kyiv
2016 Research Platform: Transformation, PinchukArtCentre, Kyiv
2016 PARCOMMUNE. Place. Community. Phenomenon, Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv
2015 Borderline. Ukrainian Art 1985–2004, PinchukArtCentre, Kyiv
2014 Collection Platform 4: Emotion and Technology, PinchukArtCentre, Kyiv
2014 Blinded by Beauty, Institute of Contemporary Art, Kyiv
2014 Art that saves, Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv
2013 Where There’s a Will, There’s a Way, PinchukArtCentre, Kyiv
2011 2012 — PAC-UA: Backside Entrance to the Museum (with Psyfox), PinchukArtCentre, Kyiv
2011 Independent. The New Art of the New Country 1991–2011, Mystetskyi Arsenal, Kyiv
2010 Sexuality and Transcendence, PinchukArtCentre, Kyiv
2010 Curated by_vienna: Blue Noses — Parallel Cinema, Knoll Galerie Wien, Vienna
2009 Red Forest, PinchukArtCentre, Kyiv
2009 Ukrainian New Wave, National Art Museum of Ukraine, Kyiv
2007 2008 — Reflection, PinchukArtCentre, Kyiv

Media coverage

International fairs

2013 Berliner Liste, Berlin, Germany
2009 53rd Venice Biennale, Ukrainian Pavilion, Venice, Italy
2004 Manifesta 5, San Sebastián, Spain
2004 Belgrade Biennale, Belgrade, Serbia
2003 Prague Biennale, Prague, Czech Republic
Psychodarvinizm. Evolution of Species — traveling exhibition, Port Agency, Odesa / Kyiv

Personal

2009 Represented Ukraine at the 53rd Venice Biennale of Contemporary Art, project Steppes of Dreamers
2004 Participated in Manifesta 5, San Sebastián, Spain
At least 9 solo exhibitions and over 90 group shows in a 30-year career
Solo shows held in Ukraine and abroad (Dymchuk Gallery, Golden Section, Bereznitsky Aesthetics)
Auction sales at international houses (Phillips etc.), ranging from $3,500 to $74,000