Lesia Khomenko

In Search of a Grand Style

Until not so long ago, many spoke of the blessing of unlimited freedom that the artist has in the era of “global eclecticism”: it is as though now he/she is no longer tied to any stylistic or ideological “grand narrative.” This works in theory, but in practice it doesn’t look so positive. Actually the artist feels disoriented. Today no new stylistic dominants worthy of competing with, for example, the trans-avant-garde in painting are appearing. Therefore, at the moment, old narratives are receiving another life – now the meters of that very trans-avant-garde are citing themselves… Whether or not the artist consciously realizes this, the grand stylistic narratives continue to structure our way of seeing. In that way, Lesya Khomenko’s vision is “programmed by” Socialist Realism.

The gigantomania of totalitarian art is also mainstream, a kind of global fashion. Thus, for example, the Chinese artists in demand today reveal the militarization of our time through the prism of “ageless” portraits of military dictators. Only here, in contrast to actual historical prototypes, the stylization becomes even more hyperbolized, bearing down on the viewer with its excessive pathos. 

The poignant style of Socialist Realism in Lesya Khomenko’s work manifests itself in her 2004 series of “Field Madonnas.” The corpulent feminine figures that rise up over the viewer blend surrealism with excessive full-bodiedness, as in the paintings of Lucian Freud. The “Field Madonnas” are deeply rooted in their gardens, as demanded by the canonical treatment of the Soviet worker image. Here we feel solidarity with those depicted and a particular heartfelt sincerity in the lionization of brutality. Without parody, she seriously investigates the formal possibilities the language of Socialist Realism offers us today. The next step in this direction is the series “Revolutionaries” from the “R.E.P” exhibition. In the post-ideological era these images of representatives of the populace lose their negative tinge. The generation of the 2000s no longer feels immediate pressure from Socialist Realism, which awakens the desire to deconstruct the latter. Ideology is reduced to a game of perspective; Khomenko’s heroes are “people seen through the eyes of insects.” The proletariat is ready to crush the counter-revolutionary hydra with soles of massive boots which hang above us – the ever-recognizable foreshortenings of Rodchenko “from below the road” in a lapidary graphic style. This “gigantomania” culminates in portraits of city types – a babushka, a cop, a group of tourists, girls. The language becomes even more generalized, the figures “grow” upwards, the weight of their biomass hanging suspended... 

But then in counter-reaction, the artist herself aims to neutralize the terrible pressure and overcome the oppressive force of their gravity. As a result, the “Kupalnytsi” appeared as an offshoot of the series “Giants.” These charmers of the natural elements are “enormous women who soar above the waves of Ayvazovskyi.” The composition of the paintings calls to mind an underwater film shoot – the swampy figures floating in the water look at once ridiculous and lyrical. Another pathos emerges here – that of setting the body free, getting rid of this cumbersome physical casing that weighs down that which it contains. Even more immaterial and delicate are the elephants swimming in the ocean. They remind us of dreams in which we fly. The artist endeavors to capture a moment of blissful weightlessness – there is no escape from the innate human desire to prolong a wonderful moment for eternity. 

In the project “Winter Swimmers” Lesya again takes advantage of the vividness of her characters. Yet the sense of the project lies less in their grotesque expressiveness than in the fact that this is a unique portrait of a community. Portraits of strange, eccentric communities hold an important place in the typology of contemporary art. Perhaps that is why this genre investigates the violation of typical social relations and the creation of others – compensatory, pathological, so-called “sects” based on common interests from winter swimming (the religion of leading a healthy lifestyle) to Satanism. Usually a certain deviation from psychological norms is emphasized in the faces of people manipulated by a “guru” – inadequacy, fear, zombification by the ideas of a “collective purpose,” or an unhealthy enthusiasm for wellness… For Lesya, as one of the members of the group “R.E.P.,” the renewal of fractured social bonds is a painful theme. This is evidenced by the succession of projects created by the group: “Patriotism,” “Communities Project,” “Transit.” In response to feelings of distance in the professional arena, where it is each man for himself, the members of R.E.P. are trying to gradually amend the situation by building new communities. It seems to me that Lesya’s project also deals with this…

Viktoria Burlaka