The Andrey Sheptytsky National Museum in Lviv has opened the exhibition “HERE”, which for the first time brings together works by three renowned Ukrainian artists – sculptors Vasyl Yarych, Oleksandr Dyachenko and painter Oleksandr Babak. The opening took place with the participation of Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi, representatives of the cultural community and visitors.
The exhibition is built around the notion of “here” as a marker of place, presence and the way in which a person exists in the world. Sculptures by Vasyl Yarych and Oleksandr Dyachenko, together with the paintings of Oleksandr Babak, are unified by the theme of corporeality and human presence on earth. Within the exhibition space, the human body is presented as the primary “here” – a point of departure from which a person comes to know space, time and self.
Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi, speaking at the opening, emphasised the special interaction between the works, drawing attention to their treatment of colour, scale and the atmosphere of the space, as well as the emotional impact of Oleksandr Babak’s painting.
The exhibition features works covering the period from 1984 to 2026. The display includes twelve sculptural works by Vasyl Yarych, seven sculptures by Oleksandr Dyachenko and more than ten large paintings by Oleksandr Babak, among them key works from the series “Grisaille”, “By the River” and “Clouds”. Visitors can trace the evolution of the artists’ approaches, in which philosophical reflection on the human being and the world is combined with consummate sculptural form and an expressive painterly language.
According to Natalia Bunda, the Lviv City Council Commissioner for Cultural Affairs, the project is unique, as the three artists have never before been presented together within a single exhibition space. She drew attention to the combination of painting and sculpture using different materials, and to the way in which the works address themes of pain, war and loss, while at the same time helping to live through these states. On the canvases, dark tones appear alongside life-affirming bright yellow hues and lush pink-red peonies, while the natural colours of stone, granite and marble in the sculptures enter into dialogue with the paintings.
Particular prominence is given to works that are being shown to the public for the first time. These include Vasyl Yarych’s sculptural composition “Adam and Eve” (plaster, 2026), Oleksandr Dyachenko’s sculpture “Pyramid” (bronze, 2025–2026) and Oleksandr Babak’s painting “Legs” (canvas, acrylic, 2026).
Vasyl Yarych is one of the most prominent Ukrainian sculptors of today. He was born in 1951 in the Ivano-Frankivsk region, graduated from the Lviv State Institute of Applied and Decorative Arts, and works in both easel and monumental sculpture in bronze, stone, wood and terracotta. He is the author of more than six hundred works, including the monument to King Danylo in Lviv, the “Prosvita” monument and the “To the Fighters for Ukraine’s Freedom” memorial complex in Stryi.
Oleksandr Dyachenko was born in Kyiv into an artist’s family and, after studying in Lviv, has worked with stone, ceramics and bronze. Among his well-known works are the monument to Omelyan Kovch on the grounds of the former Majdanek concentration camp in Poland, the Holocaust Memorial in Melitopol and the memorial composition dedicated to Mykola Amosov in Kyiv.
Oleksandr Babak is one of the representatives of the New Ukrainian Wave. He was born in 1957 in Kyiv, studied at the Taras Shevchenko Republican Art School and at the Kyiv Art Institute, and was a member of the art group “Zhyvopysnyi Zapovidnyk” (“Picturesque Reserve”) and the creative association “ChervoneChorne” (“RedBlack”). Among his well-known works are the artistic designs of the Kyiv metro stations “Osokorky” and “Vydubychi”.