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Paradise Lost

The Griffin Gallery opened an exposition by young Kyiv artist Viktoriya Riasnianska. Here one will find none of the chirping and tearful frills usually presented as characteristics (and positive ones!) of the so-called female pictorial art. Her perception is invariably sharp, even razor like. Riasnianska not only wants to get to the crux of things, she is ready to do so, and whatever illusions there might be (quite natural in any creative quest) are ruthlessly discarded. Rather than fully rely on intuition, affected half-truths, and a thick aura of mystery, she @TT adheres to sober unflinching rationalism declared in her Self-Portrait, an early work done in a style one would regard as unthinkable for a female artist.

There are two results from all this. First is a constant almost peremptory presence of irony, otherwise it would be simply horrible. Viktoriya Riasnianska is ironic about her grotesque genre scenes (Autumnal Kiss) and still lifes (Beer and Crayfish Under a Full Moon). Second, there is always a touch of sadness — rather, deep sorrow — to all her pictures, people and objects (Still Life with Flute), space and time (A Cafe in the Crimea, Kyiv Patio, and Roofs). Perhaps this is what paradise lost is all about, memories of the time when everything was anonymous, so very strange, and so very charming.

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