Do not be afraid 1990

Oleg Holosiy made this painting, called 'Do not be afraid', with oil on canvas. It is a spectral scene. You can almost see the ghost of a drawing underneath the paint, like a pentimento. The paint application is really interesting here, it's opaque and washy at the same time. Holosiy's layering gives the painting its strange light. The palette is very limited, almost monochromatic, and that adds to the emotional feel of it, like something suppressed or secret. Look at the upper right corner of the painting, you can see individual brushstrokes. They're not trying to fool you into thinking this is anything other than paint on a surface. I see echoes of Symbolism in the work of artists like Odilon Redon, but Holosiy brings something new, a kind of rawness, as if he's painting directly from a dream or a memory, not worried about perfection, but capturing a feeling. Art isn't about answers, right? It's about asking questions, stirring things up.