Roman Pyatkovka

Roman Pyatkovka is a leading exponent of Ukrainian conceptual photography most strongly associated with the Kharkiv School of Fine Art Photography. Pyatkovka pioneered a style of photography which challenged the prevailing ethos of Socialist Realism, the style which had dominated Soviet photography and filmmaking since the early 1930s.

In contrast to Socialist Realism which portrayed scenes of a harmonious communist society, photographers of the Kharkiv School challenged the prevailing status quo with a socially challenging contemporary aesthetic. Pyatkovka’s use of overlays and hand-colouring helped define this new style, one which would continue to push artistic boundaries both during and after the more artistically varied Perestroyka years. In 1989 he joined the National Society of Photo Artists of Ukraine (NSPAU).

Pyatkovka has exhibited worldwide including at the Multimedia Art Museum (Moscow, Russia), the National Centre for Contemporary Arts (NCCA) (Moscow, Russia), Museum of Ken Damy (Bresha, Italy), Museum of Contemporary Photography (Chicago, United States),[1] Moscow Museum of Modern Art (Moscow, Russia), The Navigator Foundation (Boston, USA), and ARTOTHEK (Nürnberg, Germany).