Oleksiy Belusenko

In the quiet, contemplative spaces of Oleksiy Belusenko’s paintings, time feels like it has softened, lingering between memory and the present. Born in Kazakhstan in 1960 and moving to Ukraine as a child, Belusenko has spent a lifetime weaving together history, landscape, and emotion — both as an artist and as a restorer of the past. For 25 years, he worked at the National Scientific Research Restoration Centre in Kyiv, (specialising in polychrome wooden sculpture and decorative carving), breathing life back into centuries-old sculptures and carvings. This intimate relationship with history shaped his artistic eye — his brushstrokes carrying the patience of a restorer, his compositions steeped in reverence for what came before. His works feel like whispers of the past, filtered through a deeply personal lens. While Belusenko’s career spans painting, sculpture, and curation, it is his landscapes that carry his most intimate dialogue with the world. Capturing the quiet poetry of Ukrainian nature, his canvases are imbued with a sense of nostalgia—soft brushwork, muted yet resonant tones, and an ever-present balance between warmth and coolness. His work does not impose itself; rather, it invites you in, allowing you to drift between reality and impression, between what is seen and what is felt. Beyond his artistic practice, Belusenko has also dedicated himself to art education, sharing his knowledge through the BritArt XX lecture series, where he dissects the nuances of 20th-century British art. As a curator and a founding member of the Blue October creative association, he continues to shape and support the contemporary art scene in Ukraine. Today, his works reside in private collections and museums across 30 countries. Yet, despite this global reach, his paintings remain rooted in something deeply personal — his connection to place, to time, and to the quiet beauty of everyday moments.