Kiss 1989

Oleg Holosiy made this painting, "Kiss", with what looks like oil on canvas, in a 100 x 100 cm square. There’s a real urgency in the way it's made, a kind of raw energy in the application of paint. It feels like he’s not just painting a picture, but wrestling with something, maybe an emotion or idea. The colors are moody, dark purples and greys, offset with a flesh tone which makes the skin seem both present and absent. Look closely, and you’ll see how the brushstrokes are laid down, thick and gestural, like the paint’s been thrown at the canvas. That swirling vortex around the figures adds to the drama, like the kiss is happening in the middle of a storm. It reminds me a little of Francis Bacon in its intensity, or maybe even some of the darker, more psychological expressionist painters, like Kirchner. But Holosiy brings his own voice to it. He doesn't give you easy answers; he invites you to feel something, to question, to engage with the ambiguity. And that's what makes it so compelling.