Portrait 1986

This darkly handsome portrait by Oleg Holosiy simmers with feeling. I can almost feel the artist shifting things around, trying to find the right balance between light and shadow. The paint is applied in thick, visible strokes, with this heavy impasto adding to the sense of immediacy and emotional depth. Imagine Holosiy’s hand moving quickly, decisively, to capture the essence of the sitter. The overall feeling is one of brooding intensity. He seems caught between worlds, his gaze both present and distant. Holosiy was part of a generation of Ukrainian artists grappling with issues of identity, history, and memory. There’s something about this painting that suggests the kind of searching and experimentation that was taking place in his short but brilliant career. Paintings always feel like a dialogue, and Holosiy is in conversation with other artists like Richter, Auerbach, and maybe even Soutine. He’s wrestling with the same questions, pushing the boundaries of what painting can do.