The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Buckhead gallery exhibits works by Ukrainian refugees
Artworks express “heroism, resilience ... and joy.”
The new owner of a Buckhead art gallery is devoting her first exhibit to a collection of works by Ukrainian artists who fled their homeland after the start of the Russian invasion in 2022.
“This is their rebellion. This is how they show resistance — through art,” said Karimah McFarlane, 38, owner of Buckhead Art & Company.
The exhibit is titled, “Ukrainian Art Collection,” and features 30 contemporary works by 13 artists. It is on display at Buckhead Art & Company through June 17. A private reception celebrating the opening of the art show was Thursday.
The artists are all refugees living around the world, including two based in Georgia.
The exhibit is intended to show “the heroism, the resilience of the Ukrainian people and their effort to maintain who they are through art and culture; and also spread the joy of who they are as a people,” McFarlane said.
The art collection is a part of Art Territory UA, a U.S.-based organization whose mission is to popularize Ukrainian art and culture, as well as to raise funds in support of Ukrainian refugees and the Ukrainian army, said co-founder Olga Gorman.
Eighty percent of the art show sales will benefit the nonprofit HelpingUkraine. us and support the artists, McFarlane said. The artwork ranges from $5,000 to $10,000, she added.
HelpingUkraine.us was started by former state Rep. Emory Morsberger last summer. He and volunteers have traveled to Ukraine to deliver in-kind donations including thousands of blankets and more than $1 million in medical equipment.
McFarlane, who purchased the art gallery earlier in May, says that while she has never experienced war, she empathizes with the people and families whose lives have been upended, and she wants to support them.
“I can empathize with the loss of life; with the children who have nothing to do with the politics behind this; being unable to play on the playground; being unable to have their 16th birthday party,” the gallery owner said.
“We’re just trying to do our part.”
The exhibit’s artists include: Tata Kolesnik, Polina Kuznetsova, Kostiantyn Lyzohub, Anna Bondar, Kateryna Ivonina, Oleg Kalashnikov, Anna Moskalets, Tetyana Malinovska, Natialya Karpinska, Iryna Kalyuzhna, Victoria Kalaichi, Yevhenii Shapovalov and Taras Haida.