Beautiful painting (diptych) 1991

This diptych, Beautiful Painting, was made by Oleg Holosiy, and what strikes me is the boldness of the image and its stark colors. There is a sense of immediacy, a dance between control and chance. I can almost feel Oleg’s presence in the brushstrokes, his hand moving intuitively across the canvas. What must he have been thinking? The figures are bathed in light, rendered with a kind of raw urgency. I think of Holosiy experimenting with the way a few well-placed lines can define form, suggest depth, and evoke emotion. It reminds me a bit of the early expressionists but with a totally unique twist. Painters are always in conversation with one another, across time and space, and they learn, borrow, and steal from each other all the time, and I find that so reassuring. This painting is like a question mark, encouraging us to embrace ambiguity and to find our own personal responses.