Gunshot 1991

Oleg Holosiy made this painting, "Gunshot," with what looks like oil on canvas, and the paint kinda sits on the surface. It's not trying to trick you into thinking it's real. I wonder what it was like for Holosiy to make it. It’s like he was trying to capture a whole scene, a whole story, with characters and a setting that looks as if it might have been inspired by a stage set. A stage where something dramatic is about to unfold. The muted colors give it a subdued, melancholic feel, like a memory fading at the edges. And the way he’s divided the canvas into sections… it’s almost like panels in a comic book or a storyboard for a film. Holosiy's not just showing us a single moment. He's playing with time and perspective. It makes me think about other painters, like Philip Guston, who also used simple forms to tell complex stories. Artists are always talking to each other, you know, across time and space.