Artists that supported Ukraine in 2022

The year 2022 can fairly be deemed the year of Ukraine, and it has been recently been proven by some of the most influential media like the Economist and the Time. For more than 300 days of the full-scale invasion, all eyes were on Ukraine, bravery of the army and people. The cultural front opened from the very beginning of confrontation, and many artists, both local and international passionately supported Ukraine on many levels. 

The French street artist JR has created a photographic installation in Ukraine that has been turned into a cover for Time magazine. The huge 148ft photo is of five-year-old Ukrainian refugee Valeriia, who has become a symbol of resilience during the war. 

A Ukrainian photographer, Artem Iurchenko, took the portrait of the little girl. JR enlisted 100 local volunteers to unfurl a massive photograph of a girl outside the National Opera in Lviv city in March.

“This little girl is the future and, in this war, she reminds us what Ukrainians are fighting for,” JR wrote on Instagram as he unveiled the image, which is one of two covers for the upcoming issue of TIME magazine.

A life-size shadow of the Ukrainian “Mriya” (Ukrainian for “Dream”) appeared on the fields of Funen Island in Denmark. The project of Ukrainian artist and sculptor Mykyta Zigura was dedicated to the anniversary of the Independence of Ukraine. The 80-meter shadow of the largest plane in the world, the Ukrainian An-225, depicted on a wheat field in Denmark, is visible even from space.

“This is a symbol of Ukraine’s victory, a symbol of the victory of life over death,” Nikita Zigura told Ukrainska Pravda. “We will rebuild everything. And the plane, of course, too.”

Ukrainian Antonov An-225 Mriya was the world’s largest aircraft, setting 240 world records – a unique case in aviation. Russian missile attack on the Hostomel Airport near the city of Kyiv destroyed Ukrainian Mriya on February 27, 2022.

Virgin Group founder Richard Branson visited the Antonov airport in Ukraine, the site where Mriya was destroyed and offered help to rebuild the cargo plane.

Recognised internationally with exhibitions and paintings from Lima to London, Gamlet has put aside his globe-trotting success and used his talent to support the home front during the war. Ukrainian artist has remained in his hometown of Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-biggest city, to paint its walls even amid the destruction of Russia's invasion. 

"In Ukraine, I have the feeling that I'm building the country," he said.

The artist spent the first two months of war raising funds for humanitarian aid and Ukraine's army, and sold a painting for two night vision devices. Then, the commander of the Khartia Battalion gave Gamlet a call, when the artist stayed for a while in Ivano-Frankivsk city, in relatively untouched western Ukraine, and said they needed the artist back to Kharkiv… to paint. 

Gamlet is convinced that even in times of war, art can and should influence society. Moreover, he hopes that his works, painted on wood covering the windows and exteriors of damaged buildings in his native city, will be given to a future war museum or sold for a good cause.

French artist James Colomina installed a red statue of vladimir putin riding a tank in parks around the globe. Colomina is known for his red sculptures that often comment on social issues, and after five months at war with Ukraine, putin could not escape the artist's commentary.

In Paris, Barcelona, and New York City, a red statue of putin has quietly made an appearance. The brainchild of French artist James Colomina, the statue shows the russian leader riding a small tank like a child would ride a toy car. 

These children, unaware of the statue's meaning, have even involved it in a squirt gun fight. All of these interactions only feed back into Colomina's reasons for creating this sculpture in the first place.

“This sculpture aims at denouncing the absurdity of war and at highlighting children’s courage when faced with violent, catastrophic situations triggered by others,” James Colomina wrote on Instagram.

A series of Banksy murals appeared across Ukraine, from Kyiv to Borodyanka. As ever with the Bristol street artist, their overt anti-war messaging and solidary with the people is clear. As the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues to devastate lives, it was only a matter of time before new Banksy murals would begin to appear in support of the Ukrainian people. 

There are a total of seven confirmed Banksy murals across Ukraine. One of these shows children two playing on a metal tank strap, mimicking a seesaw and another depicts a gymnast doing a handstand on the ruins of a missile-damaged building. Other murals show a woman in her dressing gown and hair curlers, wearing a gas mask and holding a fire extinguisher; a man taking a bath; a judo match with a young boy throwing an adult with a black belt to the ground (the episode hints on a judo ‘event’ with putin); and another where Banksy has used an existing graffiti of a penis, turning it into a nuclear warhead loaded onto the back of an armoured truck.

In addition to his series of murals in Ukraine, Banksy has further expressed his solidarity with the country following russia’s brutal invasion, by releasing a new artwork in print form and raising money for the international charity, the Legacy of War Foundation. 

Swiss artist Gerry Hofstetter has brought his light projection art to Ukraine, transforming buildings in its capital into works of art for three days over Christmas.

Hofstetter, who has made a name for himself with light projections on the Matterhorn, an Arctic iceberg and the Brandenburg Gate, is beaming the Ukrainian flag, doves of peace, Christmas motifs and other images onto the facades of museums, universities, residential buildings and churches throughout Kyiv, with St. Andrew's Church, the National Museum of History of Ukraine and the bell tower of St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery among them.

The lightshow also remembers victims of the war, projecting photo portraits of victims with their names and age at death on buildings and monuments such as St. Andrew's Church. 

“With these illuminations, I want to bring hope and some Christmas to Ukrainians,” Hofstetter was quoted as saying in a statement ahead of the lightshow.