German Newspapers Highlight Alisa Lozhkina's Artwork Displayed at the Bode Museum
Several leading German newspapers praised Alisa Lozhkina's artwork Escape to Egypt (2022) and highlighted it in their printed and online editions. This happened after the paining was presented at the Bode Museum in Berlin as a part of the exhibition Timeless Contemporary Ukrainian Art in Times of War.
The artwork was created after the beginning of Russian full scale invasion in Ukraine in 2022. It aimed to draw attention to the millions of refugees who had to flew their homes due to the war. It got viral in Ukraine's social media and was featured in numerous publications about the art and war in Ukraine in 2022.
The artwork was created after the beginning of Russian full scale invasion in Ukraine in 2022. It aimed to draw attention to the millions of refugees who had to flew their homes due to the war. It got viral in Ukraine's social media and was featured in numerous publications about the art and war in Ukraine in 2022.
Alisa Lozhkina's painting Escape to Egypt (2022) is a part of the exhibition titled Timeless
Contemporary Ukrainian Art in Times of War (17.03.2023 to 17.03.2024). The show is now on display at Bode Museum in Berlin (Germany). One year on from the onset of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, the Bode-Museum has invited ten Ukrainian artists to enter into a dialogue with selected artworks from its own collections. The concept of the show is to create a space of dialogue between a Ukrainian artist's work and a piece from Bode Museum's collection. Alisa Lozhkina's Escape to Egypt is displayed along with an ancient masterpiece - a coptic wooden high relief depicting the Liberation of a Besieged City (Egypt, 5th century).
Contemporary Ukrainian Art in Times of War (17.03.2023 to 17.03.2024). The show is now on display at Bode Museum in Berlin (Germany). One year on from the onset of the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, the Bode-Museum has invited ten Ukrainian artists to enter into a dialogue with selected artworks from its own collections. The concept of the show is to create a space of dialogue between a Ukrainian artist's work and a piece from Bode Museum's collection. Alisa Lozhkina's Escape to Egypt is displayed along with an ancient masterpiece - a coptic wooden high relief depicting the Liberation of a Besieged City (Egypt, 5th century).
Alisa Lozhkina. Escape to Egypt. Oil on canvas, 2022
Text About the Artwork
The Flight to Egypt is a familiar plot in European art. Escaping from the insane Herod, Joseph takes his young wife and the Holy Child far, far away, to the world behind his eyes. In the midst of a dead and dark night, a small family shines like a handful of diamonds. In the center of the plot is not the young Savior of the world, and not his divine Mother, but a completely ordinary man who was destined to become the guardian of two of the most important people in the universe. Tired of giving birth, the mother is dozing, the newborn Child is staring into eternity, and Joseph is firmly holding the bundle with his poor possessions which would be priceless in the hungry desert. He is leading his donkey further and further - into the night, into safety, into a new life. This donkey is no less important hero of the plot than all the others. He seems to understand it well.
An old Coptic priest in a monastery in the middle of the Egyptian desert once told me the route that, according to local legend, the Holy Family took. Suddenly, in this path that went through unfamiliar places, I recognized my own life. I also often ran away - from problems, from pain, disappointment, loneliness. Each of us has our own Herod and our own Egypt. For me, "Flight to Egypt" is not so much about particular religion. It is a cosmic story about devotion to one's mission, hope for a better fate and the mystery of family warmth, which illuminates the darkest night and the most terrible desert.
This year, when war broke out in Ukraine, millions of families had to go on a similar journey. Someone lost their home, someone fled from the bombings, protecting the lives of their children and loved ones. Several million women and children ended up in Europe. Unlike the heroes of "Flight to Egypt", these women had no one to protect them in a foreign land. They had to take their fate into their own hands.
I want to believe that very soon all the families separated by the war will be reunited, that all the refugees, having rested in the Egyptian lands, will return home, and that no one will ever have to flee from the evil Herod again.
Alisa Lozhkina, 2022
The Flight to Egypt is a familiar plot in European art. Escaping from the insane Herod, Joseph takes his young wife and the Holy Child far, far away, to the world behind his eyes. In the midst of a dead and dark night, a small family shines like a handful of diamonds. In the center of the plot is not the young Savior of the world, and not his divine Mother, but a completely ordinary man who was destined to become the guardian of two of the most important people in the universe. Tired of giving birth, the mother is dozing, the newborn Child is staring into eternity, and Joseph is firmly holding the bundle with his poor possessions which would be priceless in the hungry desert. He is leading his donkey further and further - into the night, into safety, into a new life. This donkey is no less important hero of the plot than all the others. He seems to understand it well.
An old Coptic priest in a monastery in the middle of the Egyptian desert once told me the route that, according to local legend, the Holy Family took. Suddenly, in this path that went through unfamiliar places, I recognized my own life. I also often ran away - from problems, from pain, disappointment, loneliness. Each of us has our own Herod and our own Egypt. For me, "Flight to Egypt" is not so much about particular religion. It is a cosmic story about devotion to one's mission, hope for a better fate and the mystery of family warmth, which illuminates the darkest night and the most terrible desert.
This year, when war broke out in Ukraine, millions of families had to go on a similar journey. Someone lost their home, someone fled from the bombings, protecting the lives of their children and loved ones. Several million women and children ended up in Europe. Unlike the heroes of "Flight to Egypt", these women had no one to protect them in a foreign land. They had to take their fate into their own hands.
I want to believe that very soon all the families separated by the war will be reunited, that all the refugees, having rested in the Egyptian lands, will return home, and that no one will ever have to flee from the evil Herod again.
Alisa Lozhkina, 2022
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