Halyna Kostiuk for New Pathway, Toronto.
Igor Sinitar’s art is strikingly aesthetic. Colors, shapes, carefully thought out compositions, and textures as well as rhythm of repeatedly applied stripes of different width capture the viewers’ attention firmly to the point that it would be understandable to overlook the tension in graciously composed paintings. It's not until eye is settled comfortably to feast on rich hues and elegant shapes the viewers are startled by underlying turmoil in almost every painting. In some of them the clue to this inquietude is front and center: “Marche pour une société plus démocratique” – informs the bent slogan in “Ode to Activists” (2013). The deep reds and yellows add to heat.
Sinitar’s painting is a real treat: so dense in colors, textures, and meanings that one can spend a lot of time gazing at each of them. His recent show (2.01. – 31.01) at Richview library’s gallery demonstrates despite the young age the paintings that are surprisingly mature, multilayered, and deep in meanings. His acute interest in social issues does not get in a way of exploration of colors and other painterly elements and their capacity to coexist independently with figurative images of the composition.
The artist takes a close look at a person in urban environment in “Human-centric Approach” (2015). Offices, construction cites, city streets, stair cases, parks, and roads – all become both scene and decorations for the greatest performance – life. Sinitar focuses, however, on people – the actors in this grand spectacle (Shakespeare's about the world being the theatre and people – the actors, comes to mind). The artist rarely observes the crowd, usually he includes in the frame a small group of three-four people. At the first glance, the figures are still, almost immobile, and do not interact with each other; but their being static is actually tricky: looking closely, one can’t help noticing inner tension, like a spring in each of them. Sinitar is concerned with fundamental dilemmas which people face today, especially, as he put it, “materialism/spirituality”. In “Cubically incarcerated” juxtaposition – office/church opens the door to serious discussion about our priorities.
In “Work in Cyberspace”, Sinitar combines smooth and textured surfaces, flatness and volume. Rich and various details add to the visual complexity and assert the independence of colors from the images and even the composition itself. Bright yellow in “Labor Division” dominates composition and seems to be derived from Kashmiri saffron.
“The viewer of “Our Company Hound” is assigned the role of “corporate spy” – says the artist. Stripes of the window blinds are smooth and even glossy, and divide the viewers’ attention between the space outside and the window dressing itself. The blinds also serve as a barrier that fence off small stuffy office space from the rest of the world. Someone is peeking through them in an attempt to break free.
Sinitar’s palette is mostly warm, even hot. The artist prefers red, bright yellow – colors that in some paintings (“Tautologically Crimson Audit”, for example) exceed compositional structure, are not auxiliary to the pictorial elements, and have exclusively painterly features.
Although Sinitar talks about Kandinsky’s influence on him, palpable effort is noticeable to break free from the beaten path and find the own one. The “Fervent Pursuits” clearly shows that the artist is on his way up to shape his own style, to take further exploration of the colors’ capacities, to discover more routs to attract attention to the issues that are important to him.
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