Alex Victor Ihnatenko (AVI) is a native of Mykolaiv, Ukraine. Although he was born into a family filled with artists, sculptors, and skilled craftsmen, AVI began drawing at the age of 1. As a child, he found great joy in drawing and often spent most of his time drawing dozens of pictures a day. Of objects, people, and animals that he observed.
Up until his teenage years, AVI wanted to pursue an artistic career. However, after the fall of USSR his family experienced financial difficulties and it caused him to pursue a more marketable degree in Economics at Kyiv National University of Trade and Economic on a full ride scholarship. After graduating, AVI had a short stint in the marketing department at a real estate development company.
Soon after he left and started his own business. Along with his mother, AVI opened a children’s center, named Da Vinci Workshop, that flourished into a school for children. It specialized in providing a curriculum that concentrated on art and math. One of the great achievements of the school was displaying the children’s work at The Central House of Artists in Kiev. Up until then, the center only featured works from professional artists. Another great achievement the school provided was that it inspired and reintroduced AVI to his love of making art.
"Once a client gave me a desk calendar with the best fashion wall art of Ukrainian artists. I flipped through the calendar, some unspoken feeling appeared inside me. I chose four works that I liked most. I decided to learn more about them, and it turned out that these artworks were the four most expensive paintings of Ukraine. “Well,” I thought. “It looks like I understand this.”
Alex Victor Ihnatenko
Hence, in 2017, AVI enrolled in The Kiev Academy of Applied Arts and Design for formal art training. After studying a four-year program in three years, in 2020, he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts. His senior thesis, oil painting“The Birth of an Artist”, received the highest assessment.
More than 200 works of art are held in private collections around the world: the United Kingdom, France, the United States, Australia, Spain, Poland, Italy, Austria and others.
In Barcelona there is a painting in the sky made in a monumental way, inspired by the medieval frescoes of Catalonia.
More than 14 paintings by the Catalan artist Francesc Soler Rovirosa (1836-1900) from the Herboristeria del Rei, also known as Giuseppe Baldini's shop from the film Perfume, have been restored and preserved.
Currently, Alex Victor Ihnatenko resides in Barcelona, Spain, and is a full time artist specializing in painting, sculpturing, creating stained glass and fashion wall art