Swimming Pool 1991

Oleg Holosiy made this monochromatic painting of a ‘Swimming Pool’ at an unknown date, using oil paint, I imagine. There’s a cool sense of space and architectural design, but it feels empty like nobody is there. You get the impression that the paint was applied with fast and energetic brushstrokes; you can feel the artist trying to capture the essence of this place. I wonder, what was Holosiy thinking when he painted this? He died young, in his twenties - I wonder if he felt isolated. The color palette is very muted; mostly black and white, which adds to the overall feeling of melancholy. It reminds me of other painters like Gerhard Richter who used black and white to create a somber effect. But here, the brushstrokes give a feeling of energy, like an Abstract Expressionist painting. Artists are always building on each other’s ideas, so we can see how painters continue to inspire each other across time. Painting embraces uncertainty, and the real meaning emerges over time.