There's something arresting in the movement and perspective of the contemporary Ukrainian artist Victor Sydorenko's work. Many of his images seem to catch people in moments of suspension or flotation, or look at them from unexpected, inverted angles. In the above painting, Zero Year, he manages a sort of optical illusion: depending on how you train your eyes, the bodies are either in free fall or moving upwards towards the light. There is a suggestion of pleasure, as well as of terror, a tension that leaves them in a state of suspension, weightless and free.
In another series of paintings, Sydorenko's style shifts from the sharp simplicity that characterizes much of his other work to a soft nostalgia. A craquelure effect and faded colors lend a feeling of being of the past to depictions of people gathered at the beach, socializing in their swimsuits. The images read as photographs or memories of people lounging and playing together, effectively suspending them forever in moments of community and ease. So there is something arresting in these paintings too, because they both freeze and point to that which is fleeting.
I recently listened to an episode of The Great Women Artists podcast devoted to the early 20th century German painter Paula Modersohn-Becker. My first introduction to Modersohn-Becker was the book Being Here is Everything by Marie Darrieussecq, which is a fictionalized imagining of Modersohn-Becker's experience as she lived suspended between a conventional married life and one focused on and devoted to art. This tension in and of itself made her unusual, but her paintings, which were forgotten from the annals of art history for many years, were truly groundbreaking. She is believed to be the first woman to paint a full length nude self portrait, and to paint herself nude and pregnant (which she did before she actually was). She imbued her paintings of herself, other women and children with life and emotion through the use of heavy marks, scratches, and what her husband viewed as a disturbing ugliness; this style is what ultimately set her apart and placed her at the forefront of German Expressionism, which deemphasized the depiction of reality in favor of the capturing of emotion. In Being Here is Everything, which was based on careful study of the artist's letters and paintings, Modersohn-Becker's life is presented in fragments that show her deep need to put paint to canvas, no matter the cost to her marriage or the outlines of her life.
And finally, I'll end today with a poem from Nobel Laureate Tomas Tranströmer (translated by Ingar Palmlund), about music's ability to evoke an idea and suspend its listener within it.
Allegro
I play Haydn after a dark day
and sense an honest warmth in my hands.
The keys are willing. Mild hammers strike.
The tone is green, lively and still.
The tone says that freedom exists
and that someone does not pay the emperor tribute.
I push the hands deep into my haydnpockets,
mimicking one who quietly watches the world.
I raise the haydnflag — this means:
“We do not surrender. But want peace.”
The music is a glasshouse on the slope
where stones fly, stones roll.
And the stones roll right through
but each pane remains whole.
As always, thank you for reading. If you know someone who might appreciate this newsletter I hope you’ll consider passing it along.
Until next week,
S
Wow I love this. I have always had an appreciation for art in some sense but to be led through perspectives of it certainly is a luxury. Well done! By the way, I just created a new community for Substack authors to post their articles, stories and creations to be more easily found on the web. You'd be super welcome to try it out:
https://www.reddit.com/r/CreatorXEconomy/
Any support or sharing your favorite Newsletters or stories would be appreciated.
Thank you for introducing me to this artist. This line: "a tension that leaves them in a state of suspension, weightless and free" will stick with me. There is something so poignant about these words.