Sloven 1990

Curator: This oil painting is titled "Sloven," created in 1990 by Oleg Holosiy. Editor: Well, immediately I see a sense of haunting, almost a ghostly procession, with pale figures emerging from a darker ground. What do you make of it? Curator: What strikes me is how Holosiy applied the paint. You can clearly see the brushstrokes, the materiality of the oil on canvas. The artist almost builds up the figures using layers of paint, lending them that spectral quality. Editor: And those eyes! They appear in unexpected places, within what seems like the backdrop or hair, staring directly at the viewer. It creates a feeling of being watched, of being implicated in something unseen. Could they be symbols of inner turmoil or perhaps allusions to a hidden, spiritual dimension? Curator: That’s a valid point. However, I wonder about the context of 1990. What materials were available to Holosiy then? Were they limited in ways that dictated the techniques we're observing now? Restrictions of production might certainly influence aesthetic choices, I feel. Editor: Perhaps. Yet, the repetition of the figures, their blankness, to me, that reads as intentional symbolism. They become archetypes, emptied of individuality, embodying something more universal and unsettling. Curator: It’s interesting how you see them as archetypes, and I can also imagine the materiality of the painting and of art during this period acting as symbols too. Perhaps it also reflects on a certain material and spiritual climate of a country facing change? Editor: It certainly leaves you with a lot to ponder about its maker. What would be your ultimate insight here? Curator: I am most impacted by how art making decisions can often have something to do with economics or availability of resources. The means and modes of production, don't you agree? Editor: Certainly the availability of resources affects the artwork but how people engage with the symbolism, how the viewers relate to its iconography—that’s the most fascinating element for me here.