For Immediate Release

PYSANKA (Ukrainian Easter Egg) and CONTEMPORARY ART EXHIBITION at THE UKRAINIAN MUSEUM

The Ukrainian Museum's exhibition of pysanky, Ukrainian Easter eggs, is this year presented in the work of two outstanding Ukrainian artists. The exhibition features the traditional decorated eggs created by Tania Osadca, and the multifaceted contemporary works of art by Aka Pereyma. The exhibition, entitled "PYSANKA, UKRAINE'S CULTURAL ICON: Preserved in the Traditional Form by Tania Osadca and in the Contemporary Art of Aka Pereyma" opens on March 21, 1999 and will be shown through June 6, 1999.

The Ukrainian pysanky had their origins in antiquity. The eggs themselves have always been a source of wonder and magic to the primitive people. Seen as the embodiment of the renewal of life, the eggs played an important role in spring festivals. They were decorated with specific designs and colors that held symbolic meaning, and were used in prescribed rites and rituals. When Christianity came to Ukraine in the 10th century, pysanky were incorporated into the Easter observances and to this day they are a viable part of this holiday tradition.

The four hundred pysanky on display in this exhibition are rich in the variety of symbolic decorations and colors. Regional differences in designs and color schemes are prominent and almost all regions of Ukraine are represented in this collection. The designs on the pysanky were decorated in the traditional manner, using the wax resist technique. Most of the designs are very old, according to artisan Tania Osadca, who researches them in rare and antiquated publications and in collections held by museums in Ukraine. She keeps this age-old tradition alive by replicating the designs on the eggs, thus renewing the existence of the pysanky in the modern world.

Tania Osadca is a respected authority on Ukrainian folk art, especially pysanky, and a master artisan of the craft. She studied art history at Kent State University, but her spare time was devoted to the promotion of the pysanka art through education, lectures and visual demonstration. For many years T. Osadca has been involved in the research of the history, symbolism and application of ancient pysanky designs. Her work has translated into the development of one of the most important, interesting and rare pysanky collections outside of Ukraine. She has shown her collection in many exhibitions throughout the United States, Canada and Ukraine.

The traditional motifs of the pysanka permeate the contemporary art works of Aka Pereyma, which the artists draws from the fertile source of her ancestral culture. A. Pereyma has adopted the lore, the passion and enchantment of Ukrainian folk art that is revealed in the ideogrammatic manner in which she expresses her creative thought. The artist uses pysanka elements to deal with themes such as the cycle of life and nature, and the mysteries of the universe in oil paintings, in works of mixed media, in ceramics and metal sculpture(examples of which will be on exhibit.

Aka Pereyma studied art at the Art Institute of Chicago and at the Dayton Art Institute in Dayton, Ohio, from which she received a diploma in sculpture. She learned welding at the Hobart Institute of Welding Technology in Troy, Ohio. Collections of her work have been shown in numerous solo and group exhibitions throughout this country, in Canada and in Ukraine.

Pysanka, Ukraine's Cultural Icon continues The Ukrainian Museum's series of exhibitions entitled In Celebration of Private Collectors. These exhibitions are designed to acknowledge the important role collectors play in the formation of significant collections, which they in turn share with the general public, whether through loans for special shows or important outright gifts to cultural institutions.

The Ukrainian Museum 203 Second Avenue New York, NY 10003

Tel. # 212 228-0110 FAX 212 228-1947 E-mail: UkrMus@aol.com

Web page: www.brama.com/ukrainian_museum

Museum hours: Monday through Sunday 1 - 5 PM

Admission fee:$3.00 for adults $1.50 for senior citizens and children over 12

The Museum's programs are funded in part by the New York State Council on the Arts

Marta Baczynsky
Public Relations