Untitled 2022

Alevtyna Kakhidze made this drawing with what looks like a felt tip pen on paper. The directness of the line reminds me of a lot of art brut or naive art. The simplicity of the materials really lets the message shine through. On the left a figure asks, "Why do you Ukrainians not surrender?", and on the right, in response, two people are passing a book that says "History" and "Russia did not win all wars". There's something so touching about that, like, "Oh, you wanna know why? Here's why." I mean, the book looks really heavy, but they're sharing it anyway. What I also like is that the drawing really just wants to communicate something, and in doing so, it transcends the simple materials used to make it, just like art is supposed to do. Maybe Kakhidze was inspired by someone like Jessyca Loewe, who makes similarly unpretentious work, that packs an emotional punch.