WhiteBox is pleased to present 4.5.0., an interdisciplinary exhibition of works by Ukrainian artist Zinaïda Kubar, known as Zinaïda. Her first US solo exhibition, 4.5.0., focuses on images and myths that surround women's issues and female identity by drawing inspiration from Ukraine’s culture, heritage, and historic symbols to confront our present moment. The title “4.5.0.” holds deep meaning as a code originally used by the Ukrainian military which translates to “everything is ok, everything is at peace.” Originated from war, the code 4.5.0. now has been adopted by Ukrainian army veterans and transformed into a powerful wish for “peace and harmony” every day.  Zinaïdais a modern woman whose art epitomizes Ukraine’s search for a unifying identity.

4.5.0., which runs from June 2 to July 5 at WhiteBox, offers an intimate dialogue of the artist's films Bila Truna(White Coffin) and Mute. Zinaïda will perform Kalyna, a fragment of her video entitled Transformation which was shown previously in 2013 as part of “New York Pulse” at the Metropolitan Pavilion, New York, and during the 20thannual Ukrainian Fashion Week in 2018. The artist dedicates 4.5.0.to her country, Ukraine, which is going through an unpredictable, tumultuous period of transformation, under a real, existential threat. The artist strives to reveal Ukraine’s authentic traditions, history, and contemporary life. She wants to unveil the nation’s beauty and release its profound, unmitigated spirit. In addition to the Kalynaperformance, the exhibition will be accompanied by an Artist’s Talk and ARTREHUB, a group setting rehabilitation training for those who have suffered wartime trauma.

Kalyna (Ukranian for snowball berry)- In Kalyna, an ongoing, durational 2013-2018 regenerative work, Zinaïdareveals the variety of Ukraine’s cultural and social rituals which are represented using sacred symbols of life beginning and passing; the endless transformation of the material world and immortality of the soul. By transmuting the red beads of the traditional Ukrainian protective amulet into a river of blood, Zinaïda references the perception of time, aging, and memory in connection with processes of symbolic resurrection and degeneration. Guests to the June 1 opening night will experience a live Kalyna performance. 

Bila Truna (White Coffin), 2017 (video) -  This work, which underscores Zinaïda’s journey investigating the fundamental emotional foundation of women’s spirit and culture, touches upon the boundaries of being and nothingness, which is transformed in the sublime, liminal realms of art and reality. Viewable in WhiteBox’s downstairs Project Space, the video documents a funeral in Ukraine’s Carpathian region. Impressed by this clearly-defined ritual process of making death official, Zinaïdafilms with an exacting profound scenario, emphasizing the panorama of cortege as spectacle emphasizing the steep dimensions of the earthly burial, the world of common people, and the boundless sky, to which newly transformed souls may levitate.“This is a special land where the spiritual culture has always been not a part of a mystical or exotic adventure but a core of existence,” explains Zinaïdaregarding her choice of this Western Ukraine location.

Mute, 2015 - Mute is a meditative video of 16 subliminal portraits. The subjects are real heroines who saved the lives of many protestors who came under hostile fire during the Maidan volunteer movement, a historic period surrounding the “EuroMaidan Revolution” also known as “Revolution of Dignity” which took place in Kyiv, Ukraine from November 2013 to February 2014. Individual women appear to share the same paradigm of timeless emotions, symbols, and archetypes, against a backdrop of contemporary wartime struggle. In stark contrast to the noisy chaos of war surrounding them, these women gaze at the spectator in a benumbed purity of emotions, distinguished in silent rebellion. The project’s concept emerged from a thoroughly deep investigation and involvement into the emotional world of each female participant, the artist reflects on the meaning of heroism and pays close attention to women’s commendable roles during the conflict. The US debut of MUTE will be on view as well as a series of photographs of a selection of the volunteers in the main exhibition space of WhiteBox. Each photo will be accompanied by an intimate story of that woman. 

4.5.0. by Zinaïda

White Box, 329 Broome Street, New York, NY 10002, USA

Opening: June 1, 2018 at 6:00pm featuring live performance of Zinaïda’s Kalyna             

Exhibition: June 2 - July 5, 2018
Artist’s Talk and ARTREHUB Training Session events to be announced.

PRESS CONTACT: For interviews, editorial, and image requests, please contact Tara Theune Davis at +1 917.318.5577 or tara@bespokebytara.com.

About Zinaïda | www.zinaida.studio| @zinaidastudio

Born in Kyiv, Ukraine in 1975, Zinaïda was drawn to art at an early age. She studied art and architecture until the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991 saw the rise of an independent Ukraine and ushered in profound economic transformation.  The tumultuous circumstances that Zinaïda witnessed and experienced first-hand through two revolutions stirred in Zinaïdaa sense of purpose behind her art. “All people who lost their values as a result of violence, changes in the mindset, criminal activities, disease - these are the challenges for me as an artist. I believe that art is a language which I am using to address these challenges, bring transformations to soothe the pain.” For Artist’s statement, expanded biography, and C.V. go to www.zinaida.studio.

She has participated in the 1st International Kyiv Biennale of Contemporary Arts (2012), the International Forum of Contemporary Art – Art Kyiv Contemporary (2010, 2012, 2013), the interdisciplinary international festival GOGOLFEST (2013), the parallel program of the Venice Biennale (2015), and has shown her work extensively in the Ukraine. Zinaïda’s works can be found in the private collections in Ukraine, Great Britain, Spain and USA and in the public collection: Fondacion Caja de Burgos (Spain), Museum of Cosmonautic named after S.P. Korolyov of Zhitomir (Ukraine). 

About WhiteBox | www.whiteboxny.org | @whiteboxny

WhiteBox, on its 20th anniversary, remains a non-profit art space aiming for total invention catalyzing the tenor of the times. It serves as a platform for contemporary artists to develop and showcase new site-specific work and is a laboratory for unique commissions, exhibitions, special events, roundtables, and arts education programs, providing an opportunity to experience an artist’s practice in a meaningful way, socially inspired free from market constraints. WhiteBox artistic vision provides hard to pigeon-hole artists with sustained exposure, creating an ideal environment for more in-depth interaction between sophisticated as well as community-bound New York audiences and artists’ practices. It achieves this by inviting local and international emerging and established artists to respond to its exhibition space with leading-edge interventions, performances, and developing long-term inspired programming that allows them to develop projects and engage with audiences. The artists who exhibited at WhiteBox tend to defy easy categorization.

About ARTREHUB | www.artrehub.org/en

 ARTREHUB is a volunteer-based initiative which provides psychological rehabilitation in a group setting for those who have suffered trauma, primarily during the ongoing war in Ukraine. The art therapy practice at ARTREHUB is built around the "Red Thread Technique," a means of enhancing connectedness, which was developed by the project's founder, Zinaïda Kubar. Zinaïda believes that today's artist has an obligation to be socially oriented. The events of the last years in the Eastern part of Ukraine intensified her belief and prompted her to found ARTREHUB, as a response to an urgent need.