Above Eternal Peace 2008

Alexander Roitburd painted "Above Eternal Peace" using oil on canvas. Roitburd layers conventional painting with surreal additions, using the visual language of graffiti and street art. The lush, painterly underlayer of this work recalls traditional fine art. The handling of the paint is confident, the forms are well-rendered, and there's a clear sense of compositional order. However, a network of neon doodles sits on top of the painting, a deliberate defacement of the canvas. The artist’s hand seems caught between the orthodox and the transgressive. These elements may have been added using stencils or other industrial processes, reflecting the artist's engagement with the culture of mass production. Roitburd’s practice is a commentary on the history of Ukraine as a meeting point between the European tradition and something altogether more raw and contemporary. His layering of classical technique with street art subverts any clear definition between high art and craft, inviting us to consider the social and cultural significance of art making.