Beauty and escape 1992

Volodymyr Loboda mixed his colours to create Beauty and Escape. The paint is thick and juicy! I can imagine him, palette in hand, the studio filled with half-finished canvases. There's a lot going on here. You've got this figure sort of emerging, all yellows and golds and a feeling of movement, nearly skipping, off the red. Then on the left, this other figure feels more grounded, heavier, like they're rooted to the spot. They're in blues and browns. It's like Loboda is thinking about the push and pull between fantasy and reality. The dream of beauty, the weight of existence, all these big themes but handled with this lightness of touch. It feels really personal. I feel a kinship with other artists through time, like Guston or Auerbach. We’re all searching, experimenting, and having conversations with each other through paint.