KYIV.- On August 21, 2025, PinchukArtCentre and Ukrainian Railways unveiled Motion, a large-scale painting by Ukrainian artist Lesia Khomenko. Created specially for Kyiv’s Central Railway Station and commissioned by the PinchukArtCentre, the work transforms one of the capital’s busiest transit hubs into a site of contemporary art.
The presentation took place in the station’s “Red Hall”, where Lesia Khomenko had been working since mid-July. During the opening ceremony, speeches were delivered by Oleksandr Pertsovskyi, Chairman of the Board of Ukrainian Railways; Björn Geldhof, Artistic Director of the PinchukArtCentre; artist Lesia Khomenko; Julie S. Davis, Acting US Chargé d'Affaires to Ukraine; and Halyna Hryhorenko, First Deputy Minister of Culture and Strategic Communications of Ukraine.
Opening the presentation, Oleksandr Pertsovskyi, Chairman of the Board of Ukrainian Railways, underlined: “Our collaboration is a step towards transforming Ukrainian railway’s stations into modern public spaces. Every day, thousands of people pass through them — soldiers, civilians, foreigners, and those returning to Ukraine for the first time. For us, it is important that stations become showcases of change: comfortable, accessible, and engaging. Today, many people, due to the war, do not have the opportunity to visit exhibitions, museums, or live a cultural life, so we want art to come to them, even if someone pauses only for a moment. This is our way of bringing art closer to people and turning railway stations into vital hubs of each city”.
Björn Geldhof, Artistic Director of the PinchukArtCentre, reflected on the meaning of the work: “I will try to say what I feel about this painting, because I think everybody who comes in here will first have an emotional reaction. And my first emotion was beauty. It is something very rare. My second emotion was optimism. And I think that is exactly what this painting is about. It is about the beauty of Ukrainian society, this constant moving, about the optimism that never disappears, even when everybody feels bad. And I think that is also what the railways are about. The railways are about sustained optimism over a very long period of time. And I hope that we can be very proud of this together”. He also added: “But this is only the beginning, because, as I believe our partnership will continue, but in addition, on 28 August PinchukArtCentre opens Lesia Khomenko’s solo exhibition and that is the start.”
Before inviting guests to her temporary studio, artist Lesia Khomenko, shared a few insights about the work: “First of all, for this work we carried out a real shooting. At its centre is the escalator — the canvas serves as a kind of mirror of this structure. The painting depicts real people whom we specifically invited and selected for this scene. Thanks to the team, this shooting took place at the very beginning of the process. Secondly, beyond its documentary aspect — a real situation and real performances that actually happened — the work also stands as a metaphor for our society. From the start, I said: the escalator is endless, and all of us are moving on it.”
Julie S. Davis, Acting US Chargé d'Affaires to Ukraine, mentioned: “This is such an incredible location. To see Lesia Khomenko’s artwork come to life in the beating heart of this capital city and of Ukraine is astonishingly powerful. It is so amazing to see Ukrainians on the move in this station, observing a painting that so vividly embodies the resilience of Ukraine — people moving, propelling the country forward.”
Motion extends Khomenko’s solo exhibition at the PinchukArtCentre into the public sphere. The work composition reflects the architecture of the station (the large rolling stairs) while presenting an abstracted image of Ukrainian society, depicted as a continuous collective movement of people—standing together in defence against external aggression while simultaneously safeguarding the democratic values that underpin the nation.
Ukraine possesses a deep and complex tradition of embedding art into public space, particularly within architectural contexts. During the Soviet period, monumental art such as mosaics and murals played a central role in constructing collective identity and transmitting ideological narratives. These public artworks were often permanent, integrated into railway stations, factories, and housing complexes, functioning as visual manifestations of political power and historical teleology. Khomenko’s intervention engages critically with this history by rejecting such an ideological determinism. By creating a temporary installation that privileges the immediacy of painting and the human experience, Khomenko produces what art historian Claire Bishop has described as a “counter-monumental” strategy—works that emphasise process, fragility, and lived experience over permanence and ideology.
Khomenko’s figures are inspired by real individuals—heroes, railway workers, medics, and civilians from across Ukraine—who posed for the artist prior to the painting’s creation. Not to engage with the singular heroization, instead, these individuals are depicted as part of a collective physical movement. The merging of forms exists somewhere inbetween the loss of solidity of Impressionism and the dynamic force of optimistic beliefs of futurism. Her painterly language articulates a vision of Ukrainian society as an “open unity,” in which roles, genders, and statuses remain fluid. This resonates with contemporary Ukrainian civil society, where individuals often occupy multiple and shifting subject positions in response to the demands of war. The painterly gesture becomes both a metaphor and a method: the broad, bright strokes affirm individuality, while their layering and interconnection embody a society united that holds collective agency, fueling a creative, from the ground up, resilience.
Installed in the central hall of Kyiv’s Central Railway Station, the work acquires an intensified symbolic resonance. Historically, the railway has functioned as one of the most powerful emblems of modernity—captured by Impressionist painters as a marker of industrial progress and by Futurist artists as an icon of speed, dynamism, and transformation. In wartime Ukraine, however, the railway has assumed an urgent and existential role. It remains the country’s only stable and secure physical connection to the outside world, while simultaneously ensuring that Ukraine internally stays integrated and mobile. Railways transport displaced persons, deliver humanitarian aid, and serve as a backbone of national defence under conditions of sustained attack. By installing her work within this charged infrastructural site, Khomenko bridges historical artistic symbolism with the immediacy of contemporary lived experience. Motion thus becomes a continually shifting portrait: through its abstraction, it invites every passerby to recognise themselves within its collective flow, transforming individual perception into a shared sense of unity.
This commission is part of the partnership between the PinchukArtCentre and Ukrainian Railways. It began with an exhibition on February 22 of this year and later included the installation of the first permanent sculpture inside the Ukrainian Railways building by artist Oleksii Sai.
Together, Ukrainian Railways and the PinchukArtCentre believe that art plays a vital role in society, especially in difficult times. Art helps people stay strong, critical, and connected—even under stress.
