In 1978, Silvashi published the manifesto Chronorealism, proclaiming time as the central subject of his research in painting. At the same time, he earned a living creating slide films for the Ukrainian Studio of Chronicle-Documentary Films — the practice influenced his understanding of space and the movement of color. In Silvashi’s works, color ceases to be merely the surface of the canvas: it becomes a material object that “grows” in space and touches the viewer not only visually but also sensorially.
In 1992, Tiberii Silvashi co-founded the collective Painting Reserve, which gave a significant impetus to contemporary Ukrainian art toward neo-formalism and collective practices. He was elected secretary for youth affairs in the board of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine and organized the legendary Sedniv plein-airs, which became a platform for the “first generation” of the Ukrainian avant-garde. Moreover, Silvashi personally curated international projects such as Non-narrativity (1996) and the Biennale of Nonfigurative Painting (1998), spreading his ideas of “color-writing” beyond Ukraine.
Silvashi’s first solo exhibition took place in 1993 in Toulouse, France. Subsequently, around 40 solo projects were organized across Europe and the USA. In 1995, he was named “Artist of the Year” and received the Munich municipal scholarship. He is also a laureate of the Taras Shevchenko National Prize of Ukraine for his installation Wings.
In September–October 2024, the Ukrainian Museum of Contemporary Art (UMCA), in collaboration with the Ukrainian House National Center, presented the first major museum retrospective of the artist — Silvashi Circles. The exhibition included works from different stages of his career, from early monochromes and slide films to large-scale installations, demonstrating Silvashi’s interactions with colleagues and global artistic contexts. The artist himself calls the exhibition a moment when he was “taken out of the closet”, allowing viewers to appreciate the influence he exerted on several generations of Ukrainian artists.
Silvashi’s paintings are held in museums in Munich, Vienna, New Jersey, Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv, Uzhhorod, Kyiv, and in private collections across Europe and the USA. Key projects and series include: the manifesto Chronorealism (1978) — a programmatic text on time as the essence of painting; Painting Reserve (1992) — a collective neo-formalist project; Silvashi Circles (2024) — the large-scale UMCA/Ukrainian House retrospective; and installations and “color objects” from the 1990s to the present, which blur the boundaries of canvas and space.
Tiberii Silvashi’s art is a breakthrough in understanding painting as a tactile-spatial environment, where color and form transform the wall into an object of exploration and experience. His ideas of “color-writing” inspire artists to explore new perceptual boundaries and strengthen the dialogue between Ukrainian art and the world. In this way, Silvashi paves the way for future generations of artists, emphasizing empathy through color and space, demonstrating that painting is not merely an image but a living organism that “grows” together with the viewer.