Information about the work
Work Female Head [Zhinotcha Holova] (oil on cardboard, 1991; acquired by the Khmelnytskyi Regional Art Museum collection from the author in 1992) embodies precisely these qualities, boasting compositional clarity, refined plastic execution, and exquisite coloristic mastery. The author develops Cubist ideas toward the minimization of artistic means and the complication of the color palette by introducing contrasting combinations with red. He also explores geometric contrasts, juxtaposing multi-sized rectangles (representing the face) with wavy-edged passages (representing the hair).
Despite the rationally calculated composition—reflecting the impact of European Modernism—Stovbur’s work harbors a visual “rebus.” The woman’s head is “assembled” like a collage out of planes of black, violet, blue, variations of gray, and a suspiciously accented red. Red serves a crucial, multi-functional role: it is a coloristic tuning fork, an anatomical feature of the woman’s face, and a mysterious male profile in silhouette. This perhaps hints at relationships in the woman’s life that have become an integral part of her identity. Alternatively, it may represent her visual thoughts “written” across her face before a date (for all its minimalism, one senses her dressing up: red lipstick, bright blue earrings, and a festive, wavy short hairstyle).
The late 1980s and early 1990s marked a period of transformation driven largely by artists’ active self-awareness and self-determination. During this time, Stovbur worked prolifically, exhibited frequently, and purposefully explored color, particularly white. According to collector Mykhailo Knobel, “Stovbur is contemplative and philosophical in expressing the ultimate minimal self-expression through the aesthetics of the minimal.”
Cardboard, oil. 73 × 66
