Kopchak Family Style

An exhibition called Four I’s has opened at the Akvarel Gallery. This might seem a rather odd. Yet, the explanation is quite simple: this is an exhibition of four artists. They are all relatives and form not even a creative dynasty but a certain clan or, if you will, a guild. Thus Akvarel is exhibiting the works of Yury Kopchak, his teenage daughter Natalia, his still younger son Andriy, and Taras Holyk, the husband of Yury’s other daughter. It should be added this is not a complete list of egos, for other representatives of the clan decided not to exhibit their pieces this time, giving way to their colleagues who are also related.

What looks striking and even somewhat illogical is the integrity of the exhibition, recalling its title. One reason might be the undeniable expressiveness of Yury Kopchak’s dislocated way of painting. His manner had a direct (maybe too direct) impact on the creative work of daughter Natalia. Even Taras Holyk, obviously leaning toward earthly stability and certain traditionalism in his landscapes, occasionally reveals his inner world pitching into a turbulent whirlpool. At first sight Andriy appears the most original of all the Four I’s. First, he exhibits graphics, not paintings. Secondly, he prefers symbolic and allegoric compositions to still life and landscapes. However, in the final analysis, his approach is simply a different facet of the same family style, considering the author’s youth. For this reason, only a painstaking (and perhaps unnecessary) analysis of the works presented might say how unique is each of these four egos.