On 21 April 2015 Asters jointly with the U.S.-Ukraine Business Council held a reception within the ArtAsters project presenting an exhibition Resumption of a well-known Ukrainian artist Volodymyr Tovkailo. The exhibit features about 40 paintings made over the past three years and specially selected by the artist for this project.
Volodymyr Tovkailo's paintings were exposed for the first time in ArtAsters project in 2009 and got high grades by art critics, the firm's clients and other viewers while a good number of then exposed works found home in private collections in Ukraine and abroad. This time his come-back exhibition appears to be not less thrilling.
USUBC President Morgan Williams and Asters' Senior Partner Armen Khachaturyan made short speeches at the opening ceremony. Armen Khachaturyan in particular noted that ArtAsters is lightening just another star for Volodymyr Tovkailo who is a very special artist, a creator with vision inputting a coded message into each of his painting to be decoded by a viewer based on the life-long experience and ability to share emotion. Any art loving person can be tranquilized by the theme, texture, and color of this visionary art. Morgan Williams indicated that "such project as ArtAsters is something Ukraine really needs especially at the current difficult times as it raises the spirit and gives a hope for the future. Art is the best weapon as it does not ruin but rather creates."
The event was attended by the firm's numerous clients and friends, including top managers of the leading Ukrainian and foreign companies and financial institutions, representatives of international organizations, mass media, art critics, and connoisseurs who enjoyed socializing in an exquisite artistic environment amplified with live music by the quarter from the Kyiv Soloists ensemble. A special treat at the opening night was demonstration of a film Connecting the Centuries about Volodymyr Tovkailo shot by the San Francisco documentarists.
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Critics have called Volodymyr Tovkailo "perhaps, the last sincere painter in our skeptical time". Originally from Svetlovodsk in the Kirovohrad Oblast, his talent is his ability to "tell about very complicated things in plain language". The artist's works were repeatedly shown and had success at the international art show Art-Kiev, as well as others, including solo exhibitions in Ukraine. Works of Volodymyr belong to the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine and are part of private collections in Ukraine, Russia, the USA, Canada, Germany, France, Spain and Austria.
ArtAsters is Asters' CSR project established in 2009 dedicated to supporting, showcasing, promoting and popularizing the contemporary Ukrainian art and providing additional opportunities to artists for exhibiting their works in the spectacular and spacious Asters' office for the enjoyment of the firm's employees, clients and guests. Resumption is a joint event of the U.S.-Ukrainian Business Council and Asters.
