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Nikita Kadan

Fuck War. From the "Repeating Speech" Series

2023, Drawing, Paper, Charcoal , Contemporary

This is a Digital Original of the artwork, digitized using the process. Each DO is verified, blockchain-secured, and comes with full rights for exclusive digital ownership.

The seemingly indecent slogan used by Nikita Kadan in his work is, in fact, one of the most poignant articulations of the experience of the Russian-Ukrainian war, which escalated in 2022. However, this slogan, like so many others, neither resolves nor hastens the end of the unprecedented aggression against a peaceful population and a sovereign state. Instead, it symbolizes the collapse of the global order, the failure of diplomacy, and the erosion of humanity. Form follows content: the artist’s repeated inscription of this phrase reflects how it echoed across the world at anti-war rallies, yet it failed to hasten the war’s conclusion. This futile cry continues to resonate with us to this day.

K

Kateryna Tsyhykalo

Curator, art historian, PhD

Fuck War is a drawing from the “Repeating Speech” series created by Nikita Kadan in 2023. It features a direct, bold, and aggressive slogan —an urgent and emotional protest against the war in Ukraine started by the russians.

Fuck War by Nikita Kadan

The artwork depicts only two words, “Fuck War,” which were actively used in the protests against the russian invasion of Ukraine by protesters around the world. These two words were written by the artist several times, turning the process into an endless repetition. Thus, a direct political speech was transformed into a kind of spell, making verbal protests against the cruel confrontation resemble a magical practice.

Fuck War’s Art Style: Turning Words Into Power

Fuck War by Nikita Kadan is a contemporary work of art, created using black charcoal on paper. The technique involves writing words in repetitive motions, layering them over and over. The sizes of the drawing are 70cm x 50cm.

The color palette of the work is limited. The artist used only two colors—black and white, employing black charcoal on white paper.

Fuck War’s history is closely related to the current historical events in Ukraine, where people are fighting for freedom every day. In 2022, the Secession Gallery invited Nikita Kadan to design a banner above its entrance. The artist wrote only two powerful words, which were then transformed into a huge banner measuring 410 x 500 cm. Notably, the artist created a lot of similar slogans united in the “Repeating Speech” series, such as “Putin Huilo,” “Stop Putin,” “Close the Sky,” and others.

Unique Features. Emotions and Mood of Fuck War

Intense, expressive, and bold lines on the drawing suggest that the artist had a clash of emotions or internal tension while creating it. It seems that the artist was in an emotional outburst, trying to put all his feelings about the war into these two words. The letters intertwine and layer on top of each other, conveying a feeling of urgency or distress.

Fuck War’s meaning is straightforward. meaning is straightforward. It is an expression of disagreement with the horrors of the battle ongoing in Ukraine, the artist’s homeland.

Bid on Nikita Kadan’s Artworks

Nikita Kadan’s body of work spans graphic pieces, oil paintings, architectural sculptures, and installations. His works on paper include “Putin Huilo” (2023), “Landscape with the Replaced Part” (2023), “Minska Station” (2021), and many others. Participate in auctions, purchase the artist's works, or simply check them out on the UFDA website.

Digital original details

Format
Digital Original Standard
Resolution
400 MPX
Color depth
48 bit 281 Trillion Colors
Original file size
1497 MB DNG File

Physical original details

Country
Ukraine
Years
2023
- Styles
  - Contemporary
- Medium
Physical canvas
70cm x 50cm
Framing
No framed

Nikita Kadan

Nikita Kadan

Nikita Kadan: Artist's Path

Born in 1982 in Kyiv, the artist attended the National Academy of Fine Art, graduating in 2007. Nikita Kadan’s biography includes his role as a member of the artist collective R.E.P. (Revolutionary Experimental Space) and a founding member of Hudrada (Artistic Committee), a curatorial and activist collective.

Nikita Kadan’s artworks were featured in the Ukrainian Pavilion at the 56th Venice Biennale in 2015. Additionally, Kadan's works have been featured in numerous group exhibitions held at various museums and galleries worldwide, including Albertinum and Hygiene Museum in Dresden, Central Post Office in Kaunas, Asortymentna Kimnata in Ivano-Frankivsk, Castello di Rivoli in Turin, PinchukArtCentre in Kyiv, mumok in Vienna, and many more.

Moreover, in 2024, the Biennale Matter of Art commissioned him, along with artists like Kateryna Lysovenko, Marta Popivoda, Alicja Rogalska, and others, to create new works for the event.

Nikita Kadan’s Art: Exploration of Political Identity and Memory

The artist’s practice spans installation, sculpture, painting, and graphic art, often developed through interdisciplinary collaborations with historians, architects, and human rights activists.

He blends his activist work in Kyiv with his artistic practice, creating pieces that use historical contexts to address contemporary issues. By drawing on architecture and history, he examines the legacy of the Soviet Union and the effects of recent events in Ukraine.

The artist explores the complex interplay between the post-Soviet rethinking of 20th-century experiences and areas of collective amnesia. His work addresses the tension between internationalism and nationalism, as well as the relationship between historical and contemporary narratives.

For example, one of the central questions raised by his work, “The Beautiful Colonizer,” is whether the Soviet period of Ukrainian history can be considered 'colonization' and how relevant it is to view the country’s post-Soviet present through post-colonial lenses.

Nikita Kadan’s technique involves combining various visual methods and layering images drawn from Ukrainian social history, past and present political propaganda, and art history. In his art, he uses various materials, such as ceramic plates, posters, soil, bronze, wood, metal, plaster, glass, lightboxes, charcoal, and more.

Nikita Kadan’s Paintings for Sale: Discover his Artistic Vision

The artist’s body of work includes graphic pieces, oil paintings, architectural sculptures, and installations. Works on paper include “Landscape with the Replaced Part” (2023), “Shadow on the Ground” (2022), “Minska Station” (2021), and many others. Among Nikita Kadan’s paintings are “The Mask” (2021), “The Beautiful Colonizer” (2020), “Poet I (Vasyl Yermilov)” (2020), and more.

Nikita Kadan’s art for sale includes numerous options. From bold paintings to intricate graphic pieces, Nikita Kadan’s prices for works fall within a range, offering a unique opportunity to invest in contemporary art that engages with political, historical, and cultural themes.

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