The "Battle" series was completed in 2007. However, certain pieces tend to reveal themselves over time. They look like caches of ideas, springs with potential energy that can unfold over the years, becoming vectors of new movements. It turns out that the piece’s relevance is based on a different use of predetermined possibilities. At the moment when reality tosses up a gift or a challenge as an offer to enter an unexpected space, a piece seems to be waiting for such a continuation of its very self.
From the very beginning, the "Battle" canvases were conceived as a semblance of tapestries with heroic plots, a kind of ironic version of the expensive and time-consuming fabric paintings that decorated the pathetic residences of ancient tycoons. Budnikov created this series during one of his most baroque periods when the contradictory structure of the painting plane reached its climax. The glorious duality inherent in baroque action, to a greater or lesser extent, ground the narrative canvas of the works into abstraction. In the interweaving of lines and spots, there was still a chance to recognize a hint of figures. But then the heroic plot seemed to give way to its essence, namely, the inner picture of the battle, its energetic clash.
Over time, when "Battle" became a component of the new project "Victory - Triumph - Rest" in the Pidhoretsk Castle, the historical layering of this building’s past, while interacting with the works, triggered a certain reaction, which activated both the works and the internal architecture of the building. (Vlada Ralko)