Main image: Andrew Sheptunov and Oleksandr Roytburd
By Andrew Sheptunov
April First in Odessa is not just a date on the calendar; it's a state of mind when even serious art critics start squinting suspiciously, and monuments seem ready to step off their pedestals to grab a glass in good company. On this day, the city breathes irony, and we decided not to lag behind the tradition by preparing a project for you where serious academic art meets good-natured Odessa hooliganism.
The foundation of our festive exhibition is the plaster figures created by Nastya Mane.
In their outlines, one can unmistakably recognize Oleksandr Roytburd — our Sasha, whose red beard and piercing gaze have been the main landmark on the city's cultural map for decades. Nastya prepared the "dummies," preserving that highly recognizable shape, but granting full freedom of speech to those who took up the brushes.
The most talented authors of Ukraine joined the cause, each seeing something of their own in Sasha. Someone dressed him in a strict tailcoat, someone turned him into a cactus garden or a cyclops, and someone even planted a woman's stiletto on his crown — strictly out of respect for conceptual art. These works are not just souvenirs; they are a live dialogue among colleagues, filled with love, memory, and that very drive that Sasha valued so much in life.
We decided that simply looking at these masterpieces is too serious a task for April Fool's Day. Therefore, to each figure, we added artistic and poetic bouts-rimés of our own making. This is our way of "translating" the visual language of the artists into our native Odesa tongue — a language of rhymes, playful jabs, and toasts that once rang out at every gathering in the workshops or within the walls of the Museum.
In this improvised catalog, you will find everything: from sapphire eyes and hryvnia caftans to the legendary toast "to the ladies present here," which is now immortalized in plaster. Some authors went even further, literally taking the figure apart to build a new, completely unbelievable reality from it, where the entire geography of Odessa, from the Duke to Lanzheron, fits right on the belly.
We invite you to our "Sacred Circus"! Read, smile, and remember: art in Odesa is when, even after the sharpest joking thrust, you want to hug and raise a glass to ensure life goes on in all its colorful glory. Happy holidays, and may this vernissage add to you that very grand-fason (high style) that every Odesa pizhon (dandy) would dream of!
Sergey Anufriyev
Sacred circus, red-bearded face,
Trouble sat on a glove in this place.
A blue belly button, a cunning eye,
Here's a concept you just have to buy!
Leonid Bagrii
Roytburd made a dummy, Bagriy grew a cactus bed,
Don't touch, or you'll cry "Oy vey!" (oh woe), and Bagriy will see red!
In an Odesa gallery, a funny thing appeared:
One bears a load of cacti, the other sports a beard!
Belomlinska
Belomlinska made a sapphire eye,
Covered in rhinestones, aiming high.
A bow on the neck, carats on the beard so smart—
It's not just a figure, it's avant-garde art!
Igor Bozhko
Bozhko’s grandpa dressed up as a flower bed,
Smiled quite slyly, hiding his head.
Tucked his belly in the green, ruffled his beard so grand—
Became the chief partisan in the gallery land!
Bondarenko
Wrapped in two hryvnias, a question mark on his hair,
Bondarenko, sho (what) is this chic, who brought him there?
Yaroslav stares from the coat, squinting his princely eye:
This is pure art-gesheft (profit), shob (so that) I lived this high!
Matvey Vaisberg
Vaisberg gave the uncle a tailcoat, black and slick,
But the face of this pots (fool) makes you kind of sick.
Two little blue buttons, a jabot across his chest:
"Oh mommy, sho (what) for did I join this art-project quest?!"
Igor Gusev
Every banquet with Sasha would burst at the seams,
Gusev captured his famous toast, or so it seems.
Shob (so that) even plaster keeps the classic words clear:
"I want to drink this glass to the ladies present here!"
Dima Erlikh
Erlikh turned Roytburd's facade into a solid square,
Shob (so that) no one jinxes Sasha, Malevich would be happy there!
Hid his face in deep shadow, leaving the beard looking pretty,
Shob he can walk incognito through his native city!
Kirilina
With Kirilina, Roytburd fell into a colorful compote,
The palette stained his beard and painted his throat.
Now he stands all in spots, like a fairy-tale pizhon (dandy),
Shob I lived so beautifully, what a grand-fason (high style)!
Liza Kniga
Liza planted a pink stiletto right on his crown,
No face, but the beard saves this art toy from going down.
On his belly a whole portico—a Temple or Museum trend,
Sasha, take off the heel, don't make nerves (stress out) for your friend!
Nastya Mane
Nastya stuck on Sasha a trunk or maybe a nose,
In a golden crown, the uncle is solving his woes.
Baring marshmallow teeth, the collar is a neon zone,
Sotheby's will grab this Odesa standard for their own!
Denys Nedoluzhenko
With Nedoluzhenko, Sasha suddenly became a cyclops guy,
Shob (so that) he sees all masterpieces with one giant eye.
The whole caftan is painted, fringes on his neck uncurled,
This heavy hypnosis will drive crazy the whole world!
Novak
Novak gave him glasses—shob art-progress he can trace,
And on his belly—all geography, the stress and the grace!
The Duke stands there, Lanzheron beach, spheres on the floor...
We haven't seen a Sasha quite like this before!
Rakhina
Rakhina took a saw, gave Sasha check and mate,
Chopped him into pieces, like Privoz cervelat on a plate!
Laid the chunks on squares, a pure plaster salad to display,
Odesa critics will say: "A fresh look, hip hip hooray!"
Umanenko
Umanenko drew the letter "R" right on Sasha’s head,
Now he’s a grandiose example in art, just as I said!
Added a chic mustard omelet right onto his chest,
Shob everyone gets it—this masterpiece is the best!
Odessa, with its unique humor and salty wind of freedom, has always been and remains an inexhaustible source of talent, giving the world such visionary artists as Oleksandr Roytburd. This creative, life-affirming energy of the city knows no borders and is not subject to time, which means Odessa will continue to inspire, surprise, and give birth to new masterpieces, both in serious art and in a good April Fool's joke.
