FOUR LUMINARIES

The 2x2 display at the Koliory [Colors] Gallery presents a collection of distinctly different artists united by a special world view. Seeking points of contacts between the creativeness of two painters and two ceramists (hence the name of the display) is interesting but not so easy. All four are bent on decorativeness; in their works the world is decorated rather than reproduced and is perceived through such decorativeness. Ceramist Marko Halenko now and then creates rather symbolic “ritual sculptures,” but more often relates quite real but absolutely implausible stories — in other words, myths and fairy tales. To him, a myth is primarily a beautiful and poetic fairy tale Abduction of Europa. To Volodymyr Podchekayev life is a curious mixture of the theater (the title of one of his works) and zoo. And the artist’s look remains impassive; he is content with depriving each of his numerous characters of not only any facial expression whatever but even of the face as such. Volodymyr Podchekayev’s pictures are not only rich in subject matter, but also very interesting. Children, senior citizens, men, women, and even animals all are gripped in a senseless, scary hustle and bustle which is at best a gloomy and at times openly cruel game of war, love, and grief. And yet this world is beautiful like an ornamental panel, perhaps of stained glass. Bohdan Zadorozhny’s paintings are even more conditional. They symbolize rather than portray the world. Outwardly unsophisticated, they look solemn, with few but carefully outlined details. Bohdan Zadorozhny constructs myths in even such a formalistic artistic genre as still life. His flowers are, of course, quite identifiable, but the artist needs not so much a particular floral variety, with its colors and texture, as he does the “idea of the flower,” the essence of its beauty glorified thousands of times but never fully revealed. Finally, ceramist Nina Skora is interested only in the form with all its complexity and beauty. Her ceramic pieces are unusual. Her sphere of activity is closer to abstract sculpture. For most her works displayed at the Koliory Gallery only two names apply: Black and White or White and Black. Each of Nina Skora’s works is an experiment with form, color, and texture.