Echoes of an Old City

“Echoes of an Old City” is the title of a solo exhibition by the young Kyiv artist Oleksandra Hordiyets, which was hosted by Irena Gallery. Lanes and patios, which the artist has combined in the space of painting and placed in a gallery setting, are in fact far and wide apart. They are identified as Kyiv, Lviv, Zhovkva, Symeyiz, but many more are unnamed. Still, the process of naming and recognizing things seems not to be expected here. Even after I recognized the chapel of the St. Iona Monastery in Kyiv (or of the Botanical Garden, if you prefer), I felt a certain awkwardness and even suspiciousness — after all, the painting is titled “Time Has Stopped,” whereas the clock perched on this chapel has been marking time for almost half a century. Word even has it that it is Kyiv’s oldest clock. But, accuracy is not the point here. It’s all about an artist’s age-old right to see the world in a unique and special way. After all, this is not even an old city (even if is composed of corners that are far and wide apart in real space), but only its mysterious echo (“Mirage,” “An Inviting House,” “A Sleeping House”).