Yari Ostovany / Schoener

Jackie Schoener October 11, 1988

Yari Ostovany is an abstract, visionary artist. This is not only apparent in his dreamlike renditions of experience, but in his work where a promise of hope - in a world of pain - persists.
" I rely on my subconscious ... to reach underlying realities and emotions trying to remember that the answer lies within the question," Ostovany says in his artist's statement which accompanies his work in UNR's medical School's Manville Gallery.
Loss is often Ostovany's subject. Upon looking at his work, especially the series "Slaughterhouse-Homeland," one would think Ostovany is making a specific political statement about the eight-year Iran-Iraq war. But his is a more personal statement which involves general political concerns.

The strength of his work lies partially in the fact that suffering and death are not unknown to the human experience. His presentation of a cohesive statement as well as a refined technical dexterity also contribute in no small part to the success of his work. "Slaughterhouse-Homeland" is a series of six paintings which suggest more than they portray."A lot of things I put in my paintings I cannot put into words." Ostovany said. "If I could. maybe I couldn't paint them." Each panel contains a painted reproduction of a black and white photograph amidst variously arranged planes of color. "The symbolic meaning is obvious in these pieces," Ostovany said. "In number five the black comes in and is overwhelming. The red is blood red. In number two the red plane could be blood or a map ... or both." These interpretations are obvious because of his attention to composition. "I like one thing to be a lot of things at the same time without losing anything," Ostovany said. Ever present in the panels is a multicolored space. While discussing this area's Middle Eastern motif, Ostovany said: "This is chaos. enduring, like emotions ... all together at once."
In number four the multi-colored space is "a last cry of innocence," Ostovany said, very much like the relaxed. upraised hand pierced by an arrow in "Divestment" (mixed media) 1988.

The concept of disintegration of identity in each of these panels, a chaos of emotions, instability converging upon the human photos. is disquieting. Yet, while all photos are disturbed by the threat of another plane, another movement. other realities - optimism has its place. "White has the lower-hand in these pieces." Ostovany said. "But it's always there. I begin
99.9 percent of my work with no preconceived ideas. But as you see, something connects all these."

In one of his more recent works, "The Thousand Year Winter" (mixed media)
1988, Ostovany takes a close look at his country today. The painting is divided into two distinct spaces. In the bottom portion of the painting, people move in different directions. The remainder of the painting is black and contains the same multi-colored space of chaos as in "Slaughterhouse-Homeland." It is fragmented and floats in a black void. The human figures, too, are separate, stranded from one another. Separate, too, are the father and son in Ostovany's "Sohrab and Rostam" (watercolor) 1986. The story of Sohrab and Rostam is that of son and father. Ostovany tells the story of the mythical hero Rostam. Without knowing he has killed his son, Sohrab declares just before he dies: "When my father finds out about my death. there will be no place on earth where you can hide." Sohrab then names his father. "It is quite a powerful story and very close to my heart" Ostovany said.

" The Lucidity of Madness" (egg tempera) 1988, is the pivotal piece of work in this show. It's good. Really good. I won't discuss it here. You'll have to see for yourself. What is it for a man to lose himself? To find himself perhaps. "It's as if my duty is to Subjugate myself to sit and let the work flow in front of me on my canvas." Ostovany said. "At the beginning I resisted this flow. I thought I didn't know what I was doing, but then as I worked more and more, I found out that I did know, intuitively."