"Stills" by Anya Antonovych on display in Chicago gallery

CHICAGO - The UA Group will host "Stills," an exhibition of abstracted land and cityscapes by Anya Antonovych. The exhibition opened on Friday, March 3, at the Independent Radio Gallery, 2306 W. Chicago Ave.

The exhibition will run through March 12. Gallery hours are Friday, 6-9 p.m., Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m.- 5 p.m., or by appointment by calling 773-329-0137.

This series of pastel drawings is based on sketches and notes made on a recent six-month voyage through India, Bangladesh, Thailand, Nepal and Tibet. The title of the exhibition, "Stills," references film stills or photographs, as the drawings serve as Ms. Antonovych's substitute for more technological records of her travels.

An exploration of color and space, these highly geometric drawings seem at first to be antithetical to stereotypical Western notions of India: the strict geometry is strangely at odds with the wild patterns one associates with India; the sense of stillness unlike the chaotic bustle of the streets and train stations and marketplaces. Color, however, is the essence of India, especially when remembered in gray on gray Chicago. Aside from capturing color, these drawings convey stillness: the deep serenity that underlies the superficial unruliness of India.

While reminiscent of color field work by Mark Rothko and zip paintings by Barnett Newmann, Ms. Antonovych's series of drawings are still fresh and intimate. They evidence a meditative drawing practice; this renewed search for the spiritual through color and geometry is especially relevant in a time when the structures of organized religion seem to be failing more and more at their ostensible missions of bringing peace to people.

Ms. Antonovych credits her mentor, Chicago artist John Fraser, with instilling in her the importance of negotiating form and feeling in drawing. She noted that she is thankful for his confirmation that drawing is indeed a serious medium, and need not serve merely as a prelude to painting.

Ms. Antonovych is a 25-year-old Ukrainian American Chicagoan. She completed her undergraduate studies in English literature and the history and philosophy of science at McGill University in Montreal. She hopes to pursue a master's degree in fine art in the near future.

Ms. Antonovych regards travel as the truest form of education; she has resided in Scotland, France and Canada, and has traveled extensively through Western and Eastern Europe, the United States and Asia, with visits to Africa and Central America.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, March 5, 2006, No. 10, Vol. LXXIV

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