About the artist
Alexander Onishenko is a Czech new impressionist artist famous in Europe and the USA. He was born in Ukraine in 1957 in the small ancient town Chernihiv. Alexander became a painter as a child. He gathered experience from his first teachers and a passion for drawing from his father. In childhood, Alexander understood that the main thing in life is to go his own way, no matter how difficult it may be.
At 24 years old Alexander moved to Siberia, where he worked at the Historical Museum and ran his own business for 6 years. After Siberia, he traveled to Bulgaria and the special stage in his life and in the world’s impressionism has started.
In 1989 Alexander made his choice: black canvas, palette-knife, expression, and beauty of the world to create such views, where each spectator wants to stay forever.
Expressive, textured, and live pictures by the artist are full of love for life, deep dramatics of the moment, irony, and triumph of loneliness, which is the integrant part of the real creator. That was the “New Impressionism”.
In 1991 he left successful life in the Soviet Union. With risk, adventure and own courage Alexandr came to Prague on Charles bridge. There he got his head around the European painting market and created his first masterpiece “Roofs of Prague”, which became a landmark of the city.
Nowadays, Alexander Onishenko is a famous artist throughout Germany, France, the United States of America, Malaysia, the Czech Republic, and Ukraine. Except for world exhibitions, for 27 years Alexander ran his own art gallery “Jakubská” in the heart of Prague. From 2021 he opened a new gallery in the legendary church building, where he lives and creates masterpieces.
The birth of a masterpiece
Music by Evgeny Khmara (Kyiv)
EXHIBITIONS
Exhibitions
2019 Solo exhibition, Broadmoor Galleries, Colorado Spring, Colorado
2018 Solo exhibition, Filsinger Gallery – Fossil & Contemporary Art. Palm Desert, California
2016 Solo exhibition, Broadmoor Galleries, Colorado Spring, Colorado
2015 Solo exhibition, Filsinger Gallery – Fossil & Contemporary Art. Palm Desert, California
2014 Joint exhibition, Filsinger Gallery – Fossil & Contemporary Art. Palm Desert, California
2014 Solo exhibition, Hayden-Hays Gallery. Colorado Springs, Colorado
2013 Solo exhibition, Hayden-Hays Gallery. Colorado Springs, Colorado
2012 Solo exhibition, Tay Creek Gallery. Arlington, Texas
2012 Group exhibition Broadmoor Galleries. Colorado Springs, Colorado
1999 Solo exhibition, Park Avenue Atrium. New York, New York
2011 Solo exhibition, Sounds of Light, 38devonshirestreet. London
2009 Solo exhibition, The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). London
2008 Solo exhibition, The Smithfield Gallery. London
2007 Joint exhibition, Langham Fine Art Gallery. Suffolk
2007 Group exhibition, Graham Fine Art Gallery. London
2006 Joint exhibition, Langham Fine Art Gallery. Suffolk
1998 Solo exhibition, Charles Barker BSMG. London
2020 Solo exhibition, Chapelle du Crusifix. Le Croisic
2015 Solo exhibition, Centre Culturel de la Visitation. Périgueux
2015 Solo exhibition, Galerie MoreArt tea, Grenoble
2009 Joint exhibition, Galerie Eraunsia. Saint-Jean-de-Luz
2003 Solo exhibition, Centre Culturel de la Visitation. Périgueux
2003 Solo exhibition, Château de Bricquebec – Salle du Chartrier. Bricquebec
2014 Solo exhibition & workshop, National Academy of Arts (ASWARA). Kuala Lumpur
2014 Joint exhibition, TAPAK Art Gallery. Shah Alam
2020 Solo Exhibition, Mandarin Maison, Kiev
2020 Solo Exhibition, VIP Longe Kiev International Airport. Kiev
2020 Solo Exhibition, History Museum of Kiev. Kiev
2019 Solo Exhibition, Museum of Eastern and Western Art. Odessa
2019 Solo Exhibition, National Theater of Kiev. Kiev
2019 Solo Exhibition, Plast Art Gallery. Chernihiv
2020 Solo Exhibition, Castle Blátna, Blátna
2018 Solo Exhibition, Gallery Gaudeamus, Community Centre. Ostrava
2018 Group Exhibition, Municipal Art Gallery and Museum, Hořice
2016 Solo Exhibition, Grandhotel Pupp. Karlovy Vary
2015 Group Exhibition, The Church of Immaculate Conception of Virgin Mary. Hojsova Stráž
2014 Joint exhibition dedicated to the 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the Kingdom of Thailand and the Czech Republic. Prague
2013 Group Exhibition, Malaysian art & Alexandr Onishenko. Prague. Under patronage of Embassy of Malaysia & Malaysian Cultural Heritage Foundation
2010 Solo exhibition, Liberec City Hall. Liberec – Under patronage of Cultural fond of the city Liberec and the Community center KONTAKT Liberec.
2007 Group exhibition, Karolinum Art Scene, Charles University.
2004 Solo exhibition, Carlo IV-Boscolo, Prague
2002 Joint exhibition, After Floods, Exhibition Hall Mánes.
2001 Solo exhibition, The castle Konopiště.
2001 Solo exhibition, Institute of Culture.
ATELIER
In 1997 Alexander rented the church of Saint John of Nepomuk. He managed to create a unique style in which the traditional classicism of temple architecture echoes the poetry of ancient castles.
The former 17th-century Catholic church in an ancient Czech town on the banks of the Vltava River once called “old Europe”, has found a new life, becoming the home and art sanctuary for the Ukrainian artist.
Family heirlooms stand out against the backdrop of the white temple walls, alongside later acquisitions. Here you understand that a variety of times and the most distant countries can become a source of inspiration for an artist.
For more than 20 years ago Alexander Onishchenko decided to restore these amazingly beautiful ruins, having turned to the leadership of the church for permission to reconstruct the building. The church gave permission, concluding an agreement with Alexander, according to which the artist could live in the restored church.
Lesní 3312, Chloumek, 276 01 Mělník
History
The church has a long and difficult history. In 1708, the bourgeois E. Jaromierzka from Stromberg built a chapel on the Chloumek hill. The same year, J.V. Vejvoda from Stromberg adjoined the building to the chapel, thereby giving it its present appearance. The church became a famous pilgrimage site, dedicated to Saint John of Nepomuk. Under the decree of Emperor Joseph II, the church was closed in 1791. The building was sold at auction and transformed into a gunpowder warehouse. Only in 1850, the church was repaired and consecrated again. In 1898, lightning struck the building during a thunderstorm, and the temple burned down. Over time, it was repaired several times.
In 1933, a memorial plaque was unveiled on the facade of the church to commemorate the visits of the prominent Czech figures (including the poet Karel Hynek Mácha, the writer Svatopluk Čech and the president of the Czech Republic T.G. Masaryk). The observation deck is named after the poet Viktor Dyk, who often visited this place.
Later, the church was abandoned. After 1948, it was dissolved, fell into decline and turned into ruins. In the 1990s, the building was leased to a private individual, but soon it burned down again. After 1997, the former church was rented by the artist Alexander Onishenko, who transformed it into his residence and workshop. For more than 20 years, the building served as his refuge and a sanctuary of his creativity. Thus, the object is preserved well and can serve future generations.