Lviv artist Bohdan Soroka was born in captivity. His mother, Katerina Zaritskaya, a member of the OUN and head of the Ukrainian Red Cross, was a political prisoner and on the artist's birthday (September 2, 1940) was serving her sentence in prison. The boy was given to be raised by his grandparents. After graduating from school, he decided to connect his life with creativity and entered the Lviv School of Applied Arts. Trush.
In the early 1960s, Soroka studied at the Institute of Art, and at that time he became interested in modernist graphics. He participated in one discussion, because of which he was almost expelled from the educational institution. In 1962, an exhibition of avant-garde artists was held, which caused sharp criticism from the authorities. Soon a lecturer arrived in Lvov to hold an ideological conversation with the students. A discussion ensued: Bohdan Soroka could not stand aside and defended the ideas of formalism. Only thanks to the rector, the young artist continued his studies.
In 1964, Soroka got a job at an art plant, which he left after 30 years. During this time he collaborated with other artists and writers. Igor Kalynets approached him, asking him to illustrate the poetry collection "Vidchinennya Nativity". This work was continued: a cycle of engravings "Ukrainian Mythology" was released, which was based on Ukrainian mythology, intertwined with the author's avant-garde vision of the world. Soroka consulted with specialists in order to convey the folk archetype with contemporary artistic methods.
In the 80s, the artist illustrated the works of Lesya Ukrainka, Vasyl Stefanyk, Taras Shevchenko, and in 1994 he created a series of graphic works "The Passion of Christ", to which Viktor Neborak wrote texts. In the 2000s, Soroka continued to work with graphics, presented a series of colored linores - printed works made using linoleum. Until the end of his life, he continued to create, remained faithful to experimental approaches, turned to futurism, postmodernism, visualization of burlesque. Printed graphics by Bohdan Soroka have been featured on Violity more than once, works by other authors can be found here.
