Don't, Seryozha 1991

Oleg Holosiy made this enigmatic, evocative painting, "Don't, Seryozha," using oil on canvas. I can imagine Holosiy, layering that yellow ochre ground, letting it bleed and stain, building this strange aura around the central image. The painting’s surface looks as though it has literally emerged from the gloom. The central motif, that almost cartoonish figure, seems suspended. What's the relationship between the figures in the painting? What's the story behind that title? I wonder. In the foreground, that cross shape made of two strokes like a broken promise perhaps. Gestures like that are so crucial. They are where the feeling lives. It’s a conversation—he’s talking to other painters, to art history, and also to himself. Holosiy is gone now, but that urgent dialogue continues.