Oksana Mas

  • Country : Ukraine
  • Number of artworks : 34
Biography

BIOGRAPHY

Oksana Mas was born in 1969 in Ilyichevsk (Odessa province). She graduated from Ilyichevsk School of Arts (1986) and the Grekov Odessa State Art School (1992). Oksana specializes in painting and installation art. She has received numerous awards and gained international recognition. 

After graduating from high school with a degree in philosophy, Oksana Mas became fascinated with urban architecture and the contemporary world. She then started dabbling in the art world, experimenting with various media, including painting, installations and video art.

Oksana Mas’ work played a pivotal role in the painting revival of the 1990s. She went on to investigate relational and scientific art. Her work investigates the human perception in times of drastic social and geo-political change that transcends generations, eras and location. The ultimate goal of her work is to define this generation’s cultural codes by facilitating a dialogue between different religions and social groups. 

Her work has been exhibited in more than 150 public and private collections worldwide, including Russia, Ukraine, the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Spain, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, Luxembourg and Latvia. 

Oksana Mas is known for developing a unique technique that involves layering and mixing paint, pencil, varnish and lacquer on canvas. The pieces using this technique have a photographic effect, while simultaneously creating pieces with an abstract dreamlike quality. 

With a career spanning 30 years, Oksana Mas has been the headliner of more than 300 solo and group exhibitions around the world. Her work has been featured in many of the most important events in the art world: Sotheby's auctions, London Frieze, the Armory Show in New York, FIAC Paris, Art Basel (Miami, New York and Switzerland), Arco Madrid, Art Moscow, Art Dubai, etc.

The following lists just some of the key shows from Oksana Mas’ dazzling career:

  • Black/White Reverse - IRIS Gallery, Barcelona, Spain (2004)
  • Hired to dream - Aidan Gallery, Moscow, Russia  (2007)
  • Unique Sides of Routine - Museum of Modern Art Moscow, Russia (2008);
  • Helium-3 – Aidan Gallery, Moscow, Russia (2010)
  • Winner of the Independent Critics Prize at the 65th Locarno International Film Festival for the video installation Phenomenon of Epidermism (2012).

 

Today, Oksana Mas lives and works in Spain. Her work continues to gain the attention of world-renowned art critics. One such critic, the eminent Italian art theorist Achille Bonito Oliva wrote a book about Oksana and her work, which was published in 2012 by Charta Editions: Oksana Mas by Achille Bonito Oliva.

In 2011, Oksana Mas was selected to represent Ukraine at the 54th edition of the Venice Biennale. She created a monumental instillation of a representation of the Ghent Altarpiece by the 15th-century Flemish artists, the Van Eyck brothers. The piece was an immense mosaic assembled from more than 3 million wooden eggs – referencing the Ukranian folk pysankas – or painted eggs. Before its final assembly Oksana Mas sent blank wooden eggs to people in 42 different countries with a set of paints to use to decorate the eggs as they wished. The eggs were sent back to Oksana in order to become a fragment of the massive mosaic. The piece was dismantled so that the eggs could be sold individually, in pairs or lots of three or four. Each collection is carefully enclosed in stunning packaging and is accompanied a certificate showing which fragment of the mosaic the egg comes from. Artalistic - one of the world’s leading online art marketplaces - is proud to feature several of Oksana Mas’ eggs. The sale will launch in April 2021. 

THE PROJECT : PARADISE EGGS

Post-vs-Proto-Renaissance is a monumental work created by Oksana Mas in the early 2010s. It is a mosaic composed of millions of hand-painted wooden eggs assembled together to create a reproduction of an iconic Flemish painting. This project, entitled Paradise Eggs, has since been dismantled and divided into collections of eggs, some of which you can purchase on Artalistic. Enjoy this in-depth look at the epic contemporary mosaic art, Paradise Eggs, by Oksana Mas.

 

During the 54th edition of the Venice Biennale held in 2011, a gigantic work of art caught the attention of the public and drew the praise of countless art critics. This installation, entitled Post-vs-Proto-Renaissance, spanned 439 x 301 feet. This impressive contemporary mosaic was composed of 300,640,000 wooden hand-painted eggs.

 

The art critics Achille Bonito Oliva and Oleksiy Rogotchenko helped with the installation of this modern mosaic, which was assembled at the Saint Sophia Square in Kiev. 

The orchestration of such a massive piece took nine months as millions of eggs were sent to seventy artists from forty countries around the world to be hand painted. Each artist was given a specific set of rules to follow, particularly in regard to the shade and colors Oksana Mas had picked for that specific segment of the mosaic. The careful design of each section allowed the piece to take the form of a gigantic pointillist rendition of a famous 15th-century painting by the Van Eyck brothers. 

Each egg is like a pixel making up the larger image and each egg is a magnificent individual work of art. As the famous art historian, curator and critic Achille Bonito Oliva put it: “Oksana Mas has switched the optics from timeless, metaphysical perception of sculpture towards collisions between the path of history and subjective time, doing so through the transformation of individual creativity into a collective one. This is the way of true spiritual democracy. Art as an emancipation of the personal ‘self’ and of the general ‘us’.” 

 

Paradise Eggs is part two of this project in which Oksana Mas has transformed this huge modern mosaicinstallation into unique and numbered art fragments. The eggs were removed one by one from the panel; each piece was given an inventory number and a certificate of authenticity. 

For Oksana MasParadise Eggs symbolizes the union of people of different nationalities as a counterweight to the chronic instability that underscores the modern world marked by wars, disorder, chaos and the destruction of social ties.

Each egg from the contemporary mosaic Post-vs-Proto-Renaissance allows the beauty of community to be victorious over isolation, separation and solitude.

Paradise Eggs aims to bring people and nations together philosophically, symbolically and physically. By purchasing one or more eggs from the contemporary mosaic by Oksana Mas, you will not only own a stunning work of art but you will be participating in a cultural project a living work of art with the aim of creating one family on earth united by art and an artist’s humanistic vision.

 

Since the titanic modern mosaic Post-vs-Proto-Renaissance could not be moved in its assembled form, Oksana Mas decided to divide it into smaller sections so that it could continue to be enjoyed by collectors and art lovers around the world. Fragments of this unique and grand installation are now available for sale.

Starting this spring, in celebration of Easter, you will have the opportunity to purchase eggs from Oksana Mas' contemporary mosaic. These magnificent hand-painted wooden eggs are available individually, in pairs or in sets of three or four. They come in stunning packaging along with information about which part of the mosaic they come from. Feel free to browse our page dedicated to selling Oksana Mas’ Paradise Eggs!

 

Oksana Mas’ contemporary mosaic was a larger than life representation of the Ghent Altarpiece (or the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb) created by the Van Eyck brothers in 1432 in St Bavo’s Cathedral, Ghent, Belgium. This is a famous 18-panel polyptych altarpiece. 

Hubert Van Eyck began painting the altarpiece but was unable to complete it. His more famous younger brother Jan finished the work a few years after the death of his elder brother. Both were considered prominent 15th century Flemish Primitives.

The Ghent Altarpiece is located in St. Bavo's Cathedral, the former St. John's Church, which was expanded and renamed in 1559. This world-famous masterpiece is one of the most renowned and important artworks in European history. The iconography of the altarpiece depicts biblical scenes with a certain magical touch and exquisite detail. Combining tropes of ancient and modern art - regret for sins, dreams of redemption, hope for the future and a desire for purity.

 

This contemporary mosaic culminates Oksana Mas’ elaboration on an aesthetic perception of a human being in times of drastic social and geo-political change that is experienced by every generation, irrespective of the era or geographical placement by creating such a massive world-scale collaboration. Oksana’s knowledge of philosophy, religion and art coalesce to create a dialogue between different regions, religions and social groups. We are sure that she will continue to make pieces filled with multi-layered meanings that will bring the viewer to discover new ideas and cross cultural images. 

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