The Art of Resistance: Defending Academic Freedom since 1933 | Page 94

Ulyana Gumeniuk?Ukranian Faded 2013 Signed Unframed Oil on canvas 90 x 90 cm Guide Price £1,000 The daughter of a Ukrainian artist and dissident, Ulyana had a turbulent artistic childhood. She had first-hand experience of secret gatherings of nonconformist art groups in Leningrad, including meetings of the Sterligov Group (Sterligov was a student of Malevich), where she was introduced to constructivist and formalist concepts at the early age of 9. After attending State Art School at 11, she went on to study at the Art Academy in Saint Petersburg, where she also received a classical training. This is evident in her oil painting technique, for instance in Pipes 2 where she borrows stylistically from the dome paintings of Italian baroque churches. Through benefaction and portrait commissions, she went on to finish her studies at St Martins School of Art, London, in 1996. Since then, she has had a successful career exhibiting with artists