Dance 1987

Oleg Holosiy made this painting, called Dance, with oils, and well, it's a trip. What hits me first is the way he’s not shy with the paint, almost attacking the canvas. Thick strokes, layers upon layers, like he's building something solid, but with the looseness of a sketch. I get a real sense of process, of him figuring it out as he goes. Look at the figures. They're barely there, more like suggestions of bodies, just these globs and smears of brown and white, and scribbled lines, that somehow come together as people moving in a space. Notice the streaks of white paint slashing across the surface? They're so wild and free, but they kind of pull the whole thing together, giving it a rhythm, like the music they're dancing to. Holosiy reminds me a bit of early Georg Baselitz, that same rawness and energy. Both artists dive headfirst into the messy, unpredictable act of painting, and that's where the magic happens, right?