Shadows

 
In the tradition of seriality and work in progress, the Ukrainian artist Zolotar is working on his cycle entitled Shadows. The cycle consists of a series of paintings whose core motif is a dynamic, "restless" surface that is sharpened at its edges. Zolotar returns to this surface structure again and again, varying it considerably and reinterpreting it each time. In doing so, he distances himself from the idea of a copy and explores the formal and expressive diversity that exists within the framework of similarity. Overall, the design creates an idiosyncratic, purist and moving aesthetic. The surface phenomena depicted are sometimes reminiscent of mythical creatures, figures from the Japanese silhouette theater Nô or imaginative logos. The depiction also creates an impression of fundamentality, as Zolotar's pictures are presented in a maximum of three colors, reduced to white, black and (occasionally) red. In addition, an almost existential tension is created in the pictures through the choice of the specific basic pattern of the line: the straight line of the picture format contrasts strongly with the irregularly jagged outlines in the picture space, while both in turn are almost everywhere juxtaposed with the empty space of a circle.It seems as if the straight line stands for order, the irregular for chaos, freedom, imagination and creativity, the round ultimately for perfection and possibly for the "curse of the eternal return of the same" or piercing. Basically and ultimately, however, the whole cycle is about shadows and shadowiness: the series of paintings on display today may be a reflection of how it was once begun (in 2017) under the deviating title "Tiefe Höhe" (low altitude) and as a reaction to the downing of flight MH 17, but nonetheless as the result of a meditative painting practice with the help of which Zolotar is trying to find himself in a meditative state after this year's outbreak of war (on 24 February). 02) in an extremely difficult and threatening situation, so that (in his own words) each of the paintings in his Shadows cycle symbolizes an emotion and a day lived. By means of sensitivity, structural understanding, transference, alienation, condensation and minimalism, Zolotar definitely succeeds in profoundly doing justice to the title he himself chose for his series of works.