Born in the village of Novo-Pushkarivka, Dnipropetrovsk oblast. In 1963 he graduated from the Dnepropetrovsk XY in the workshop of Y. Kalashnik. For the thesis "the blue edge" in the manner of "geometric realism" was accused of formalism, the painting was destroyed, and the artist deprived of the opportunity to continue their education in Ukraine. He moved to Leningrad, where in 1963 he entered the monumental faculty of the graduate school of monumental art. V. Mukhina. In Leningrad he took private lessons in the studios of N. Altman and P. Kondratyev. Made friends with the artists M. Shemyakin, E. Rohling, V. Mishin, E. Esaulenko, V. Yankilevsky, Nemukhin and A. O. by Rubles. In 1969 he graduated and received a diploma as a muralist. In the same year became a member of the informal organization of nonconformist artists known in the West as "Petersburg group". In 1973 he was forced to leave Leningrad and move to Tallinn, where he quickly entered the artistic circle and participated in group exhibitions together with Estonian masters M. Screw, R. Lyapin, N. By kormashova. In 1974, together with F. Humeniuk, V. Sazonov and V. by Strelnikov exhibited at the exhibition of Ukrainian nonconformist artists in Moscow in the apartment of a Man. In 1976 was the first solo exhibition in Paris at the Galerie Hardy. Also works were exhibited at one of the most famous exhibitions of nonconformist artists in the West – La Peinture russe contemporaine at the Palais des Congress in Paris. While staying in Tallinn, worked as a fireman, refused to join in CX. Worked in a small workshop, sometimes received orders for illustrations to magazines and Newspapers. In 1973 – 1980 annually submitted documents on departure to France, and only in 1981 he received permission and moved to Paris. Held exhibitions in Paris, Metz, Toronto, Winnipeg, Stockholm, Chicago, new York, Washington, Dortmund, Bremen, Toulouse, Lily and Baden-Baden. Collaborates with the Galerie Saint-Leger (France), Turm-Galerie-Bonn (Germany), Galerie Noordeinde (Netherlands), Alla Rogers Gallery and Artfira Gallery (USA), KUMF Gallery (Canada). In 1987 he received the Silver medal of Paris for artistic achievement (Medaille dArgent de la Ville de Paris pour la contribution au developpement de lArt de France). In 1990 the art historian Jean-Claude Marcadé in the Preface to the exhibition catalogue V. Makarenko in Paris, in a Modern Art Gallery called the artist's style "ahisma", where the main component is the formative light.
