The virtual exhibition of photos by the famous photographer Oleksandr Shuleshko "Art" is presented as part of the museum art project "The City of Kropyvnytskyi in a Photo Lens", the purpose of which is to popularize the work of Kropyvnytskyi photographers, as well as modern photo artists who have a high professional level in the field of photography, create photographic materials , aimed at enriching and preserving the historical heritage, highlighting the cultural, social and economic life of the city of Kropyvnytskyi and its residents.
    Oleksandr Ivanovich Shuleshko was born on July 2, 1962 in Kirovohrad (now Kropyvnytskyi). He graduated with honors from the Kyiv Technological Technical College, majoring in photography (1989). He worked as a photojournalist in the regional and city newspapers Narodne Slovo, Visnyk Regionu, and Vechirnya Gazeta. Member of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (1994).
    Winner of the Vasyl Kovpak city prize for photo artists (2020). Winner of the regional journalism award in the "photojournalism" category (2021). Participant of city, regional and all-Ukrainian photo exhibitions and photo contests. Awarded the certificate of honor of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine for the 1st place in the All-Ukrainian photo contest "Ukraine: a moment of our life" (2013), the Diploma of the All-Ukrainian Photographic Exhibition "Kirovograd-Gaivoron - 2016".
    Creatively collaborates with the Kirovohrad regional organization of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine. He is an active participant of the regional artistic plein airs: "July Laces of Understanding" in the village of Understanding of the Oleksandrivskyi district of the Kirovohrad region (2012), to the Artist's Day in the city of Svitlovodsk (2017), the city of Oleksandria (2018) and in the workshop of the famous painter Anatoliy Shapovalov, a member of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine, in the village of Adzhamka of the Kirovohrad district of the Kirovohrad region (2019, 2021).
    Oleksandr Shuleshko's photos were published in numerous printed publications - photo albums "City and People. Yelysavetgrad - Kirovograd. 1754-2004" (2004), "Kirovohrad region. History. Traditions. Modernity. To the 70th anniversary of the Kirovohrad region" (2008), "Kirovohradshchyna. We are Ukrainians" (2012), "Ukraine. Kirovohrad Region" (2012), "Modern City: Kirovohrad Dimension" (2012), "September Gems. 43 All-Ukrainian festival of theatrical art. September 25-29, 2013. To the 75th anniversary of the formation of Kirovohrad region" (2013), "Kirovohrad region in the mirror of time. To the 75th anniversary of the formation of Kirovohrad region" (2013), "Poem about the city" (2016).
    Oleksandr Shuleshko is an active participant in art projects of the O.O.Osmerkin Art Memorial Museum: the thematic photo exhibition "Revolution of Dignity. Chronicle of events", dedicated to the anniversary of the tragic events on the Maidan in February 2014 (2015), a cultural and artistic event in the creative workshop of the sculptor Viktor Frenchk, a member of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine, "The language of plasticity. Viktor Frenchko about life and art" from the series of art exhibitions "In the artist's workshop", where the author's photo installations "In the sculptor's workshop" (2016) were exhibited, publications in the "Vechirnaya gazeta" series of art studies articles on the topic: "Creative portrait of the artist" from the museum collection of modern Ukrainian fine art (2019-2021). To the Day of the City, the museum presented several personal photo exhibitions of Oleksandr Shuleshka "The City. People" (1997), "City. Space of light" (2013), "City. Artists" (2020).
    Portraits of representatives of culture and art - artists, poets, musicians, writers, actors - occupy a special place in the work of photographer Oleksandr Shuleshko. The most important factors in his photographic works are the fixation of light, which determines his approaches to color and plasticity of form, and the emotional state of a person with an emphasis on personal psychology.
    The exposition of the current exhibition consists of thirty-three black-and-white photo portraits of contemporaries. These are Kropyvnytskyi artists, most of whom are laureates of regional awards in the field of fine arts and art history named after Oleksandr Osmyorkin and in the field of architecture, heraldry and vexillology and decorative and applied arts named after Yakov Pauchenko - People's Artist of Ukraine Mykhailo Nadezhdin, Honored Artists of Ukraine Boris Vintenko, Shapovalov, Felix Polonskyi, Andrii Nadezhdin, members of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine Volodymyr Kyryanov, Victor Frenchko, Anatoly Shapovalov, Ihor Smychek, Yuriy Vintenko with their students Karina Laktina and Victoria Slyuschenko, who chose the profession of an artist, Yuriy Goncharenko, Lyudmila and Oleksandr Demydenko , head of the Kirovohrad regional organization of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine Andriy Hvorost, member of the National Union of Architects and Artists of Ukraine Iryna Kukharenko, member of the National Union of Masters of Folk Art of Ukraine Andriy Lipatov, painters Volodymyr Volokhov, Natalia Fedorova, Oleksandr Kiryanov, Olga Krasnopolska, sculptor Hryhoriy Savchenko , Kharkiv graphic artist Mykola Lomakin, journalists - Leonid Bagatskyi and Roman Lyubarskyi, local historians - laureates of the Volodymyr Yastrebov Regional Local History Award - candidate of historical sciences Serhiy Shevchenko and Fedir Shepel, long-term head of the Kirovohrad regional organization of the National Union of Writers of Ukraine, honored journalist of Ukraine Vasyl Bondar, actor of the Kropyvnytskyi Academic Regional Ukrainian Music and Drama Theater named after M. L. Kropyvnytskyi Honored Artist of Ukraine Mykola Yaroshenko, prosecutor by profession and photographer by profession, member of the National Union of Photographic Artists of Ukraine Serhiy Zholonko with his wife Tetyana, director of the Oleksandr Osmerkin Art Memorial Museum Vita Chernova.
    The presented monochrome photos of Oleksandr Shuleshko are a kind of chronicle of the artistic life of the city of Kropyvnytskyi during the years of Independence, starting from the 1990s to the present 2022, when Ukraine defends its will and independence, defends territorial integrity, protects the Ukrainian language, culture and art, professing national traditions and honoring the heroic history of the country. With black and white chiaroscuro, the author shows the entire range of human emotions in the portraits of the heroes he chose - thoughts, excitement, despair, pain, disappointment, memories, creative inspiration, irony, hope, confidence, faith and love of life.