He was born on 18 November 1959 in Rodatychi, Lviv region, Ukraine. From 1975 to 1978, he studied art privately with Stepan Trush[1].
In 1977, he moved to Lviv and started working as a restorer at the National Museum in Lviv. Mykhailo Krasnyk's work was also influenced by Lviv art critic Andrii Dorosh and his circle of neo-modernist artists. They promoted the culture of free expression and worked in the fields of abstract expressionism and existential art. Since 1980, he has been participating in exhibitions in Ukraine, and since 1990, he began to exhibit abroad[2].
At the beginning of his career, he worked in the field of free, dynamic abstraction. He used color, line, stain, and texture to convey emotions. He experimented with various techniques: handmade graphics, monotypes, and color linocuts.
Krasnyk has never had an academic education, so his art is unaffected by formal rules[3]. He combines symbols and associations in his works. He uses various materials, creates textures, and reliefs, draws on glass, and works with etching, linocut, and collage techniques[4]. In his graphics, he uses objects from everyday life like scissors, newspaper clippings, candy wrappers, keys, and postcards. His work is influenced by oriental, Japanese, and Chinese art.
Participation in exhibitions
The artist's works were presented at more than 300 international and national exhibitions. Since 1991, he has held over 15 solo exhibitions in Ukraine, Germany, Poland, and Netherlands. His works can be found in 80 museums and galleries around the world.
Solo exhibitions
1991 - Gallery Petrograd in Hamburg, Germany
1992 - HammerCenter, Moscow, Russia
1993 - Khmelnytsky Museum of Modern Art, Ukraine, Lugansk Museum of Modern Art, Ukraine, Gallery N.N., Lublin, Poland
1994 - NationalMuseum, Lviv, Ukraine
1995 - Lviv Art Gallery, Ukraine
1996 - Gerdan Gallery, Ukraine
1998 - Galerie Pavlovsky, Utrecht, Netherlands
1999 - Gerdan Gallery, L’viv, Ukraine, Irena Gallery, Kiev, Ukraine