‘The Deepest Black’. An Exhibition of Art and Tales by Volodymyr Chornyi at INDEX

Exhibition 2 March 2026, 18:00 - 29 May 2026, 17:00

Lviv, INDEX space, 33 Ivan Franko St, 3rd floor (code 38)

We invite you to the opening of ‘The Deepest Black’ exhibition of art and tales by Volodymyr Chornyi — artist and fallen soldier — on 2 March at 18:00 at INDEX

This landscape, with its withered, blackened sunflowers, reminds me so much of people in war. We are all born as flowers of the sun, but war turns everyone into coarse, bowed sunflowers. Yet within them is a seed destined to sprout into new ideas, impulses, plans, and actions...
Volodymyr wrote these words to his friends in February 2023 from the trenches on the 'zero line' — the thin strip between us and the enemy.

About the Artist

Volodymyr Chornyi was born in Kropyvnytskyi. Dreaming of becoming an artist since childhood, he pursued a professional education at the National Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture (Studio of Easel Graphic Arts under Professor A.V. Chebykin). He applied seven times before finally being accepted on his eighth attempt. Chornyi carried this same resolve into his future artistic work.

Following his studies, Volodymyr worked as a scenic artist for cinema. It was by his hands that the atmospheric worlds of films such as Pamfir, Iron Butterflies, The Gateway (Brama), Lethal Kittens, and Maid-in-Law (Viddana) were created. As a production designer and decorator, he also worked on music videos for Okean Elzy, DREZDEN, Sonya Kay, TNMK, and many others.

At the start of the full-scale Russian invasion, Volodymyr joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine as a volunteer, taking the call sign ‘Kara’ (meaning ‘black’ in Turkic languages). He was killed in action on 9 May 2023. Volodymyr Chornyi was posthumously awarded the Order of Merit (III Class) and Order for Courage (III Class).

You can learn more about the artist and view his portfolio on his website.

A detailed portrait of Volodymyr was also published as part of the project ‘They were Killed by Russia: Figures of Ukrainian Culture.’

About the Exhibition

The artist worked primarily in his preferred medium of etching — a type of intaglio printmaking on metal. Chornyi’s prints are layered with meaning, rich in metaphor, and steeped in philosophical, cultural, and historical significance.

Volodymyr embedded deep meanings into his works. As one artist to another (I paint as well), he would always tell me: 'Olena, mix your black; create it from several colours to make it deep and complex’. It’s considered poor form among artists when black is simple — without adding other tones, it looks flat.
the artist's wife, Olena Biletska

The exhibition features the artist’s etchings, the copper plates from which the works were printed, as well as drawings, sketches, and photographs of Volodymyr on various film sets. Visitors can also read the stories he sent to his friends from the front lines.

On the opening night, and again on Volodymyr’s birthday (27 March), Olena Biletska will lead a curatorial tour of the exhibition.

The exhibition opening: