Page 12 - Leon Oks : Dreamscape

Large compositions, rendered in wide, bold and that the road he had taken was not an easy
brushstrokes and pure colors, remind us of
André Derain’s fauvism or of Matisse. One is
compelled to get closer, to immerse into this
dynamic universe, fascinated by the aura of
energy and the vibrant touch, to examine the
buoyancy of color, and to understand more
about the mastery of the artist who was able
to create them. The universe which Leon Oks
introduces us to is a joyful and energetic one,
of luscious primary colors and shapes which
coalesce to create a form which is new but in the
same time strangely familiar. At a closer look,
some of the paintings are almost figurative, but
the silhouettes are not the ones
we are accustomed to see; they
have reminisce natural forms LeOn
which seem to be floating into
an almost primordial movement,
Oks was born in the Ukraine, a OKS
linked to the fundamental
rhythms of life, and trigger an
almost unconscious response
from us, that connects us to the
same movement.
former Soviet republic, and like
many other artists that lived in a society where
the focus of official culture was not to explore
the beauty of inner life and the meanders of
imagination, but to create mobilizing slogans
which proved to be ultimately meaningless, felt
the need to express what he felt and not what
he was required to feel. The result was that his
first exhibition, where he presented to the public
his beautiful landscapes and compositions, was
quickly censored and more than half of his
paintings were removed before the public was
allowed in. For an artist that had dedicated his
existence to beauty, this was not a deterrent.
On the contrary, it was proof that he had indeed
struck a sensitive a chord, which the system
acknowledged as damaging to the official policy,
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one, but it was certainly one worth pursuing,
because it was a pilgrimage towards unaltered
beauty and towards sharing it with everyone that
had enough courage to be willing to undertake
the same journey. By removing his paintings,
the officials acknowledged something Oks must
have already known subconsciously: that beauty
and especially artistic freedom represent a threat
to any repressive society. Denying access to it is
the quickest way to enslave a person, and the
artist is a free spirit by nature. It was also a lesson
about life and relationships, about the solitude
and relentlessness of the creator: believing in
himself was always what gave him
the strength to pursue his gift, and
what enabled him to share it with
others, then and today.
mythical village, which remains
Just like Chagall created his
in the history of art as the space
where the laws of reality are
suspended so that a new reality,
take shape in its own rights, so
seen through different eyes, can
Oks re-creates for all of us to
experience his childhood town in an incredible
series of dreamy paintings, whose quiet charm
will never cease to fascinate us. “My Childhood
Memories” is a gift that the artist selflessly shares
with everyone, by offering us the opportunity
to experience something we’ll never be able
to forget. It is a fascinating experience to see
how this universe, depicted in paintings such as
‘Path to My Childhood Town’, about which we
sometimes read in history books, can be seen
simultaneously both through the eyes of the
child who had to deal with the harsh realities of
life, with moving from one place to another in
an attempt to find a place in a country torn by
war, and having to deal with the role of the man
too early in life, but also through the eyes of the