The Triptych Gallery hosts the sixth traditional exposition Ksenia Day, featuring (also traditionally) only women artists named Ksenia or Oksana. This time it is Ksenia Khodakivska, Oksana Berbeka- Stratiychuk, Oksana Mylovzorova, and Oksana Kyrpenko. Hence the display’s title: Quartet. And the epigraph, “A naughty monkey, donkey, billy goat, and club-footed bear decided to join in a quartet,” the opening line from Ivan Krylov’s popular fable. The sad end of the story does not, of course, apply to the exposition, nor do the characters have anything to do with the women artists. Nor should one try to find out exactly which of the women is the billy goat, because the consequences could be sad.
Ksenia Khodakivska’s etchings boast a jeweler’s precision of detail complemented with mysterious, unexpected subjects (and titles) that are ironic and sad at the same time (How is Life, Little Coyote?, Dedication to the Idol, Trivial Still Life Against the Background of Night, etc.).
Oksana Berbeka-Stratiychuk continues to play still lifes, inhabiting her pseudo-Dutch world of luxury with parakeets (Yellow Parakeet), sad sirens (Jealousy), or enigmatic sphinx-like monkeys (Twins). In addition to these rather peaceful creatures, one finds far more aggressive personae (Year of the Snake) lending a touch of strain and unrest to Oksana’s ironic gardens of Eden.
Oksana Mylovzorova’s new graphic cycle is some kind of urbanist florist’s fantasy, variations on the theme of Flowers in the City, more And there are two corresponding subtexts: stone and plant flowers intertwined in a simple and exquisite compositional ornament.
Oksana Kyrpenko demonstrates tricks, obviously now her favorite genre. The subject can be anything, from fireplace to china closet to a whole room (with furniture and a dog); all this, using a line from an old tale, is just painted on a piece of old cloth. Word has it that Oksana Kyrpenko’s trick pictures are quite popular with certain patrons of art fond of practical jokes. Moreover, she offers her own variant of the still life game (Confidential Talk and Temporary Misunderstanding).
