Gurzuf 1981

Volodymyr Loboda conjured this painting, Gurzuf, with oils on canvas. Imagine Loboda at work, maybe outside, brush in hand, trying to capture the light and angles of the Crimean landscape. There's a lot of blues, teals, yellows, and pinks here, and they sit alongside thick black lines that really snap. I think he's looking at cubism, and how you can collapse space into a bunch of planes. Painting isn't just about depiction, right? It's about intuition, how you put stuff together, the push and pull of color and line. I wonder if Loboda was thinking about Braque or Picasso when he made this? I bet he was. Each brushstroke feels like a little decision, a little "yes" or "no". Every artist is having this kind of conversation, and we join in when we look. Art doesn't have to have all the answers – uncertainty is part of the deal.