Untitled 1990

Curator: Looking at Georgyi Yakutovytch's "Untitled" woodcut from 1990, I’m immediately struck by how heavy everything feels – the linework, the mood. It's like witnessing a deeply solemn, almost ritualistic family gathering. Editor: I agree. The stark contrast of black and white, created by the labor-intensive carving, underscores that weighty feel. Notice how every figure, every object on the table, is built from meticulous lines – there's a real emphasis on the material process, the sheer physicality of bringing this scene to life. Curator: And yet, despite the strong realism of the image, there’s also a ghostly quality, especially around the faces. The woodcut feels as if it's emerging from a collective memory, a shared history carved into existence. There is tenderness here. Editor: Absolutely. And knowing Yakutovytch operated within the Soviet Nonconformist art scene, this attention to genre painting – particularly of what appears to be a rural family – acquires another layer. We are invited to examine who is represented, whose stories and experiences become valorized through artistic labor, and how those images circulate in a social context. The medium lends itself particularly well to those considerations, don't you agree? Curator: Precisely, the material itself whispers of a time and place – that handmade quality flies in the face of mass production of Soviet era art. Editor: I noticed the visible presence of labor contributes so much. We see the tool marks, the choices inherent in carving this particular image versus another, and the commitment inherent in reproducing it as a print. In doing so, it pushes the work toward being understood through the materials, labor, and social relations. Curator: Seeing such detail is very intimate, yet it also makes me think about how, no matter how physically close these family members are, there's still a deep chasm between their gazes and unspoken realities, it's incredibly complex, the tension between collective life and solitude… the artist manages to create a sense of hope and loss, nostalgia and a bit of fear too. Editor: I appreciate that you feel this tension because I see this, too! The density of the marks creating such complexity adds so many additional layers for us as viewers. What stories, traditions and events made their family's narrative in time, for instance. Curator: The way that artist renders those silent meals...it almost feels like a blessing in disguise. We are invited to explore beyond our everyday world with its everpresent clamor. It inspires hope... Editor: Yes, a deep and careful investigation of labor, social context, and, I think, hope are certainly etched into the matrix of this work.