Kyiv sculptor Oleksandr Kuzmin is one of those artists who confidently work not only with clay, bronze and stone, but also use wood, welded steel elements, marble, silver, polymer, gypsum, etc. This helped him to form his own creative style and to embody his attitude to the topic in each new work, combining a modern vision with the classical sound of the composition.
I am sure that art historians will write monographs about the experience of Oleksandr Kuzmin, who manages to combine harmonious composition with the peculiarities of monumental art in his works, to give the characters unique elegance and grandeur and to achieve the effect of calm solemnity in them. Moreover, the artistic philosophy of Oleksandr Anatoliiovych is a rather original phenomenon. And his natural talent, multiplied by his studies with famous sculptors and teachers - Ivan Makohon, Ivan Honchar, Volodymyr Chepelyk - gave him the ability to choose the most successful compositional and plastic solution to a work.
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However, in a short story about a member of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine, a participant of international plein airs, exhibitions, auctions, and foreign competitions, including medal art, Oleksandr Kuzmin, we will touch upon only a few pages of his interesting biography.
He was born in Kharkiv on 25 July 1979. He recalls that in his childhood he was fond of the art of modelling from plasticine and clay. He graduated from the Art Lyceum, entered the sculpture department of the Kharkiv Art and Industrial Institute, and after completing two courses of what he calls ‘Khudprom’, he transferred to study at the Kyiv National Academy of Arts and Architecture. He was fascinated by the works of Michelangelo Buanarroti, Auguste Rodin, and Ernest Neizvestny.
At the beginning of his creative career, O. Kuzmin tried himself in design, watercolour painting, and the creation of small sculptural forms. His first solo exhibition ‘Silver Wind’ took place when O. Kuzmin turned 22, and a year earlier he was accepted to the National Union of Artists of Ukraine. For the work and perseverance of a talented student - the corresponding honour and respect among colleagues.
It should be noted that most Ukrainians are probably familiar with the works of the famous sculptor. After all, Kuzmin is one of the authors of the design of commemorative and anniversary coins of the National Bank of Ukraine. Among them are the Kyiv Funicular, House with Chimeras, National Academic Chapel Dumka, Oleksiy Pogorelov (a famous Ukrainian mathematician - ed.), Mgarsky Transfiguration Monastery, Khotyn Battle, etc.
However, the interest of the Kyiv Polytechnic correspondent in the artist's work is primarily due to his works created for the Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute. They can be seen by everyone who approaches the first and seventh buildings of the KPI, the campus area, and those who are in the corridors of the academic buildings. Being fascinated by the nature of the material used to create the sculpture, the author tries to convey the inner world of the heroes of his works. Such are the memorial plaques dedicated to Borys Paton, President of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Leonid Kadenyuk, the first cosmonaut of independent Ukraine, Viktor Baryakhtar, Hero of Ukraine, Academician of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Professor of Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, Heorhiy Yefymenko, a prominent scientist, teacher and educational organiser, and many other famous personalities and events, as well as monuments and sculptural groups on the campus and in the academic buildings.
The recent opening of the memorial sculptural and architectural composition dedicated to one of the first Ukrainian aircraft designers, KPI professor extraordinaire Oleksandr Kudashev is another stage in O. Kuzmin's work. Then we agreed to meet. The conversation took place in a sculpture studio located in the capital's Pechersk, near the place where the remains of a Russian missile shot down by the Ukrainian air force recently arrived. Our conversation could not but touch upon the horrors of modern warfare. Especially since Oleksandr Kuzmin, as a volunteer of the Armed Forces of Ukraine with the call sign ‘Stoltz’ (German for Proud), fought in Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk, near Mount Karachun, from the first days of the full-scale war. It was only after a series of contusions and injuries that he was discharged. Nevertheless, from the very beginning of the conversation, Oleksandr Anatoliiovych suggested that we talk mainly about art.
So the first question was about the new monument: ‘During the unveiling of the monument to the pioneer of national aviation Oleksandr Kudashev on the site behind building No. 4, which is located on the edge of Sosnovy Park, you said that as a sculptor you had to find the best embodiment of the image of O. Kudashev as an extremely extraordinary person. According to those who know about art, you have managed to create a very successful memorial, sculptural and architectural composition. Please tell us about those who helped you create it.’
‘I am grateful to the initiator of this sculptural composition, academician of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, former rector of the Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, Mykhailo Zgurovsky; to the patron, a 1989 graduate of the KPI, a well-known businessman Petro Bahrii; to the university staff, in particular the university museum, for their organisational assistance throughout the entire period of the monument's creation.’
A certain milestone in the life of Oleksandr Anatoliyovych was his personal exhibition at the European Parliament in Strasbourg. With it, the 23-year-old young artist paved the way for Ukrainian artists to enter the art gallery located in the building of the legislative body of the European Union. The exhibition was also noticed by the then chief architect of Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, Honoured Worker of Culture of Ukraine Volodymyr Lykhovodov. He invited the gifted young sculptor to cooperate with the staff of our university. And on the occasion of the beginning of cooperation, he presented Oleksandr Kuzmin with a collective monograph ‘KPI. The First Century’, published to mark the centenary of the graduation of the first KPI engineers. ‘Thanks to it, I began to study the history of the university,’ says Oleksandr Anatoliyovych, ’to get acquainted, in particular, with illustrative materials, facts about the advanced achievements in science and technology, international and cultural life of polytechnics.
The memorial plaque dedicated to the first constituent congress of the People's Movement of Ukraine (8-10 September 1989), which was unveiled on the Day of Unity of our country on 22 January 2024 at the entrance to the Centre of Culture and Arts of Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, is a clear indication that there is a place for politics in the work of sculptor Oleksandr Kuzmin. Be that as it may, his art in this case helps to ensure the formation of the worldview of today's students, future engineers and scientists. Fostering a respectful attitude towards the fighters for Ukraine's independence in the last century should be carried out today. Isn't this part of his artistic philosophy? Absolutely. This is another proof of Oleksandr Kuzmin's noble mission.
Each new work is a new birth of a creative personality, the masters of the artistic workshop say. Art historian Maria Skoblikova once asked Oleksandr Kuzmin if he had a favourite work. During our conversation, I repeated this question. ‘If I say that I like one of the works more, I will offend the others. Each of the works reflects a certain stage of creativity. To embody my ideas in the material at hand is my creative credo,’ says O. Kuzmin.
According to the author, a memorial plaque to the prominent architects of Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, located at the main entrance of the university's main building, can be a decoration of the surrounding space - it is one of the guiding signs for those who, crossing the threshold of the university, get acquainted with its 125-year chronicle.
Nowadays, the artist's works are kept in many collections of connoisseurs of sculptural, marble and granite compositions, bronze and wooden figures, and jewellery. The sculptor is always in search, applies new approaches and, at the same time, remains unique in his own work, full of ideas for new art projects.
On 25 July this year, Oleksandr Kuzmin turned 45 years old. The editorial board of Kyiv Polytechnic wishes Olexandr Anatoliyovych creative success for many years to come!
WORKS OF OLEXANDR KUZMIN IN KPI
- Memorial and information boards dedicated to the history of the KPI, which are located in the hall of the first building (14 units, bronze).
- Memorial plaque to the scientist H.H. Yefimenko (bronze, stone).
- Memorial plaque ‘KPI architects’ (bronze).
- Memorial plaque to cosmonaut L.K. Kadenyuk (plaster).
- Memorial plaque to the scientist B.E. Paton (polymer).
- Memorial plaque to scientist V.G. Baryakhtar (polymer).
- Memorial plaque to scientist E.O. Paton (polymer, stone).
- Memorial plaque to scientist M.P. Kravchuk (polymer, stone).
- Two-figure composition ‘Allegories of Technical Sciences’ (plaster).
- Memorial plaque dedicated to the first constituent congress of the People's Movement of Ukraine for Perestroika party (polymer).
- Memorial stele to the dead students and teachers of KPI in the Second World War (renovation - reconstruction).
- Memorial sculptural and architectural composition dedicated to one of the first Ukrainian aircraft designers, KPI professor O.S. Kudashev (polymer, stone).