Roitburd VS Caravaggio. Opus # 010 2009

Alexander Roitburd made this painting, Roitburd VS Caravaggio. Opus # 010, which appropriates Caravaggio’s “Sacrifice of Isaac” and adds neon-bright lines over the original image. This gesture of overpainting challenges institutional orthodoxies, both artistic and political. Roitburd was an outspoken critic of the post-Soviet Ukrainian art establishment, which he saw as mired in corruption and resistant to change. His art often combined classical and contemporary imagery to comment on Ukraine's complex relationship with its past and its aspirations for the future. His interventions into classical masterpieces can be seen as symbolic acts of deconstruction, challenging the dominance of traditional cultural institutions. To fully understand this work, scholars would need to research both Caravaggio and the Ukrainian art scene in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. What exactly was Roitburd trying to disrupt? Was his method one of reverence or subversion? Answering these questions reveals how art can be a powerful tool for critiquing social and institutional norms.