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Leonid Denysenko

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Leonid Denysenko
A portrait photograph of Leonid Denysenko at his home.
Born
Леонід Дмитрович Денисенко

(1926-07-25)25 July 1926(age 97)
Warsaw,Poland
NationalityUkrainian Australian
Known forgraphic arts,drawing,cartoons,literography
Notable workGod is Love(literography),International Monument to New Settlers(Fairfield, NSW)

Leonid Denysenkois aUkrainian Australianartist living in Sydney, Australia. He is notable for the introduction of the graphic art technique of "literography".[1]He is the only surviving founding member of theUkrainian Artists Society of Australia.

Biography and career

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Densysenko (third from left) with Valentin Shkolny, Stepan Chwyla, andPeter Kravchenko(from left to right) at the Ukrainian National Hall inLidcombein 1999
Denysenko with his wall panels before they were mounted on the exterior of the Ukrainian Millenium - Orthodox Centre inCanberra

Born inWarsawin 1926 of Ukrainianémigréparents, Denysenko studied art in Poland. After World War II he worked as an artist with theUnited States armed forcesin Germany.

After arriving in Australia in 1949 with his family, he was sent to amigrant reception and training campatBathurst,NSW. As part of the 'assisted passage' Denysenko and his brother, Yurij were under a contract to the Australian Government to work where the Government sent them: the two were sent to Queensland to besugar canecutters.[2]As related by Leonid himself in theAustralian Women's Weekly:

"I was distraught. I didn't want to be split up from my parents. Luckily the camp held an arts and crafts exhibition soon after we arrived and I exhibited some of the sketches I had made in Germany and in Italy on my way here. "Then I sketched cartoons of the hierarchy of the camp and of the then General (later Field-Marshal) SirThomas Blameywho opened the exhibition. He was very pleased with the drawing and I was bold enough to say I didn't want to be a cane cutter. His reply was that my hands were too good. So I became staff records officer of the camp, which gave me plenty of time to sketch. "[2]

In time, the Denysenkos left the camp and Leonid with his mother and brother, helped stage a number of Ukrainian arts and craft shows in Australia.[3]By 1950 Leonid was already being featured in Australian media as a "migrant artist from Ukraine",[4]and "a young Ukrainian whose pen-and- ink work is much above the ordinary".[5]

Having passed the required exams to teach art in secondary and high schools, Denysenko went on to enjoy a diverse career. He worked as astage and set designerfor theatre and films, acartoonistandillustratorfor books and periodicals, a stamp designer, a ballet company's leading dancer, an art teacher and principal, and afreelance journalist.[6][7][8]

He holds a degree ingraphic art,a certificate in education and a diploma infine arts.

Commonwealth Jubilee Exhibition of New Australian Arts and Crafts

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In 1951 Denysenko was chosen to be in charge of the New Australian Arts and Crafts Exhibition, which was part of the celebrations for the Jubilee ofAustralia's Federation.[9]Denysenko's pen-and-ink sketches of Australian towns visited during the exhibition's tour were also part of the show.[10][11]This touring exhibition visited capital cities and towns in all the states of Australia, including Queensland[9]and Tasmania.[11]

Works

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Denysenko pioneered a new graphic art technique called "literography", which uses letters from words to form detailed pictures. His most famous work is theicon"God is Love", which features an image ofJesus Christusing letters of the wordLovewritten in 79 different languages.[1]

In December 1955, theAustralian Department of Immigrationannounced a public competition to obtain designs for a suitable stamp about migration.[12]Designs also were sought from a further 10 artists and designers, including Denysenko. About 300 entries were received.

Despite the great response to the competition and much discussion, a stamp on the theme of migration was never issued. Instead, the Department of Immigration used many of the entries in its touring immigration and citizenship promotional displays.[12]In 1989 the two entries by Denysenko were featured in an exhibition of these "forgotten works" at the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney.[13][14]

Together with his brother Jurij, an architect, Denysenko won a competition for the design of the International Monument inFairfieldin Western Sydney, that celebrates migration and the multi-ethnic community in that local government area.[15][16]

Denysenko's designed themosaicsadorning the church at the Ukrainian Orthodox Centre inCanberra.[17]

Exhibitions

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Denysenko has exhibited in group exhibitions of the Ukrainian Artists Society of Australia in both Australia, andUkraine,and his work "God is Love" has featured in many exhibitions throughout Australia.

Group exhibitions

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  • 1973 – International Eucharistic Congress – Arts Festival, Exhibition Building, Melbourne, 15–25 February 1973[18]
  • 2001 — "Devotion: the Religious, the Domestic and the Pacific",Casula PowerhouseArts Centre, 12 September – 18 October 2001[19]
  • 2010 — "Text as Spiritual Imagery" Exhibition, McGlade Gallery,Strathfield,September – October 2010[20]
  • Illustration for a Taras Shevchenko poem
    Illustration for aTaras Shevchenkopoem
  • The International Monument celebrating the multi-ethnic community of Fairfield in Western Sydney. Design by Leonid and Jurij Denysenko.
    The International Monument celebrating the multi-ethnic community ofFairfieldin Western Sydney. Design by Leonid and Jurij Denysenko.
  • A Holodomor poster by Leonid Denysenko, 2009.
    AHolodomorposter by Leonid Denysenko, 2009.

Notes and references

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  1. ^abBabie, Paul. 'God Is Love': The Literography of Leonid Denysenko.The Australasian Catholic Record,Vol. 86, No. 1, Jan 2009: 18–24.ISSN 0727-3215
  2. ^ab"He spells out a message of love to the world".The Australian Women's Weekly.21 February 1973. p. 30.Retrieved4 April2011.
  3. ^"ARTS, CRAFTS PRAISED".The Mercury.Hobart, Tasmania. 24 October 1951. p. 9.Retrieved4 April2011.
  4. ^O'Sullivan, G. 'New Australians enjoyed their Convention',The Australian Women's WeeklySaturday 11 February 1950, p.28
  5. ^"REMARKABLE ARTS EXHIBITION".Townsville Daily Bulletin.28 January 1950. p. 5.Retrieved5 May2011.
  6. ^IPREZ (2001),Художники УкраїниArchived22 March 2009 at theWayback Machine( "Artists of Ukraine" ), Edition 2, "ІПРЕЗ", Kyiv, 2001.ISBN966-95504-0-8(in Ukrainian)
  7. ^Vilna Dumka & Ukrainian Heritage Society (2001) ( "Вільна Думка" і Товариство Збереження Української Спадщини в Австралії),Українці Австралії — Енциклопедичний Довідник("Ukrainians in Australia: an Encyclopedic Guide"), Sydney.ISBN978-0-908168-11-8(National Library of AustraliaID34684777)(in Ukrainian)
  8. ^Markus, V. (ed.) (1995)Encyclopedia of Ukrainian DiasporaVol. 4. Australia – Asia – Africa, (Енциклопедія Української Діяспори. Том 4Австралія – Азія – Африка),Shevchenko Scientific Societyand theNational Academy of Sciences of Ukraine(гол ред.: Маркусь Василь, Наукове Товариство ім. Шевченка і Національна академія наук України. Вид. "ІНТЕЛ" ), Kyiv – New York – Chicago – Melbourne.ISBN5-7702-1069-9(in Ukrainian)
  9. ^ab"New Australians show handcrafts".The Courier-Mail.13 March 1951. p. 6.Retrieved8 March2011.
  10. ^"Margot's jottings".The Mercury.Hobart, Tasmania. 25 October 1951. p. 12.Retrieved8 March2011.
  11. ^ab"Exhibition Opened".The Examiner.Launceston, Tasmania. 16 October 1951. p. 3.Retrieved8 March2011.
  12. ^ab"Holt's dream Australian"— describing an exhibition of some of the entries for the design competition "The Millionth Migrant" at the Victorian Immigration Museum, held in January 1989. Retrieved 10 March 2011.
  13. ^Flynn, Chris (9 September 1998), "Stamp of Quality",Blacktown Advocate,p. 1
  14. ^The collection of stamp entries, including Leonid Denysenko's are described in the catalog by Gertsakis, E. andAustralia Post(1998)The millionth migrant: picture of a citizen, pictures of a nationAustralia Post, MelbourneISBN0-642-36813-9(National Library of AustraliaID8156595)
  15. ^'Brothers Win Design', "The Biz",Thursday, 21 March 1968.Fairfield City local newspaper, copies held in Fairfield City libraryArchived16 February 2011 at theWayback Machine
  16. ^Western Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils (1982)Sydney's Greater West,Robert Brown & Associates Pty Ltd, Bathurst NSWISBN0-909197-18-0
  17. ^ 'Український Православний Центр Пам'ятник 1000-ліття Хрещення України в Канберрі, Столична Територія'(Ukrainian Orthodox Centre – Monument to 1000 years of Christianity in Ukraine in Canberra)(in Ukrainian)
  18. ^International Eucharistic Congress (40th: 1973: Melbourne, Vic.)
  19. ^Rosenthal, K (12 September – 18 October 2001)."Devotion or Deception?".Artwrite, UNSW. Archived fromthe originalon 3 July 2001.Retrieved5 May2011.
  20. ^"'Text as Spiritual Imagery' Exhibition, McGlade Gallery, Strathfield, September–Oct. 2010 ".Retrieved9 March2011.
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