“A ghetto for the chosen” in paintings by Yulia Lazarevska
On a new exhibition in the KalitaArtKlub gallery
When Marina Tsvetaeva wrote her hard-hitting poems about the ghetto, her soul was burning in the hellish Soviet ideological fate-crusher that sucked human lives in. Somehow, these verses surfaced in my mind on entering the strange space of the KalitaArtKlub gallery where Yulia Lazarevska’s exhibition MEA CULPA (My Fault) was being launched.
Like Tsvetaeva, step by step, amid sorrows and loneliness, as commonly despised geniuses, Lazarevska’s characters move to their very own autos-da-fe. Either it is the sick society that punishes them, or their talent that stands out among the uniform mass forces them to suffer inhuman torments to assert their human self.
The main moral credo of creator of the 18 works on display is demanding approach to herself and permanent attempt to “get to the essence.” A strange combination of a tragic, lonely path to retribution, and the use of bright acrylic colors enhances philosophical meanings of the paintings.
Lazarevska is a versatile person – she is a painter, sculptor, and filmmaker. Having received a good intellectual grounding from family, she is constantly working on the “superstructure,” deepening her knowledge and expanding the range of her achievements.
Very importantly, the works on display have not been created in hurry to the day’s demand, but are two-year-old thoughtful achievements. Presented against the backdrop of pain and passion now tearing up the country, they clearly hit the target. They make anyone looking at the picture to realize their own faults. At the cost of human lives, we are becoming aware of our own country, coming to responsible citizenship and witnessing a natural, not artificial birth of the national idea.
Everything I saw at the show, from paintings to luxurious dill bouquet, incorporated into the interior space with a bowl of crackers next to him, reassures me that we will overcome all troubles on our path, survive and win! We will also stay ourselves, that is, Ukrainians, regardless of individual ethnicity.
