Oleg Tistol «Ukrainian Money Project»
Oleg Tistol has got an idea of creating his own "Ukrainian Money Project" in the mid-80s, against the backdrop of a gradual and by then implicit actualization of the question of national identity and independence. As one of the main embodiments of collective stereotypes, Tistol’s "money" were among the leading tools in the "struggle for the beauty of stereotype", declared by "Volitional edge of national post eclecticism" group. Mykola Matsenko has joined the project in the early 90's.
The project is primarily dedicated to the issue of cultural identity and reflection. Tistol’s conditional banknotes, being a symbolic unit, testify about history, political and, especially, cultural life of the Ukrainian society and the existence of its consciousness as the artist saw them.
In "Ukrainian Money Project" Oleg Tistol arbitrarily plays with historical events and personalities, and reflects on the concept of values. In intrinsic allegorically-ironic style, portraying fictional situations with real characters, Tistol captures the myths that exist in the national consciousness.
In addition, the artist appeals to the heritage of the masters of avant-garde of the early twentieth century, who were developing sketches of Ukrainian banknotes such as Narbut, Bogomazov, Boychuk.
With this project, full of semantic references and visual allusions, Tistol forms a certain artistic and cultural link between tradition and modernity.
Art dealer, Igor Abramovich
