The recently opened Pinchuk Art Center will not only house Pinchuk's extensive personal collection but is also expected to broaden Ukraine's access to, and appreciation of, contemporary art.
Are our hands tied in viewing a space like this? Not just a walk in and look see, the space demands more of you in its surveillance style entrance, smart frontage; you enter and are accounted for. There are no friendly welcomes, only cold mirror-like surfaces but more than one gallery houses art in this way, almost snap frozen, refrigerator style, anti-rustic bohemia.
White is big. Design-conscious individuals will enjoy the clean lines and minimal furniture evoking the chic-style of designer homes. This to some may be a bit cliche'd, the very modern museum with pretentious attention to 'surface," perhaps at times forgetting the art?
A maze of rooms meets you; the space is not so easy to navigate because of the curtains and passages leading to individual artworks. If you are used to other international contemporary spaces this will not faze you. It is a little bit like negotiating a computer game and steering yourself around sticking close to edges and doorways.
The white cube style of many modern art spaces is here in all its glory. It can be intimidating to some who like a more rustic space but this does display the work, sculpture, photography, painting, and prints to advantage.
The cafe on the top floor is a "must see." In a city that loves traditions, there is already a developing tradition of Kyivans going there just to get their pictures taken against white walls and plush, leather designer seats. The toilets are also novelties, blue Perspex boxes for boys and pink ones for girls with fountain- like taps that turn on when pressed.
On the first level you feel at first that you are entering a disco. It sounds like frantic, pulsating, piped music, as you would hear in a shopping mall, and then you realize it is coming from one particular artwork behind a curtain. On a video screen two live rabbits jive and contort to this fast-paced beat, their heads and bodies flopping about as two gloved hands manipulate their ducking and weaving under strobe lights. The work is suitably titled "Puppeteers" (2001), part of Ukrainian artist, Ilya Chichken's animal series entitled "Zoo;" a throw back to the restrictive conventions of the past.
Video can be bland, monotonous yet equally exciting, but attention spans usually run thin, allowing your curiosity to keep you there a bit longer with some of the projections on display.
The "Infrared room" (2004), by Belgian artist Carsten Holler, is another exciting and interactive piece for all viewers at the gallery.