Oil painting The hostess came home Igor Konovalov

№Kon 139

The oil painting on canvas titled "The Hostess Came Home" captures an enigmatic and surreal moment of confrontation, detachment, and existential questioning. A woman, dressed in a striking red and white dress with matching boots, stands motionless, her back turned to the viewer. Her gaze is fixed on the strange, faceless figures huddled together in an unnatural posture in the corner of the dimly lit, modern bedroom. The contrast between her structured outfit and their amorphous, draped forms creates an unsettling visual dialogue, suggesting themes of identity, alienation, and the passage of time. The faceless entities, clad in flowing white fabric that merges their bodies into an inseparable mass, appear to be both emerging from and collapsing into each other. Their posture, slumped and exhausted, conveys a sense of weariness, as if they have been waiting endlessly for the arrival of the hostess. The absence of facial features renders them anonymous, symbolic of lost identities or fragmented memories. The fabric covering them resembles a theatrical prop, as if they are playing roles in an eerie domestic drama, yet have lost their script or purpose. The setting is a sleek, minimalistic bedroom bathed in cold light, with deep purple bedding and monochromatic walls. The interior exudes an air of sterility, a place that is lived in yet devoid of warmth. The black floor reflects the figures faintly, enhancing the sense of a blurred boundary between reality and illusion. A single wall lamp, unlit, leans towards the bed like an observer, amplifying the feeling of silent tension. The stark geometric lines of the furniture contrast with the organic, fluid nature of the faceless figures, reinforcing the painting's unsettling atmosphere. Floating throughout the space are small, balloon-like creatures—abstract, insectoid forms rendered in glossy, transparent hues. These surreal elements, reminiscent of digital distortions or misplaced fragments of thought, hover between the hostess and the figures, forming an invisible barrier. Their playful shapes contrast sharply with the solemnity of the scene, suggesting an intrusion of the unreal into the mundane. The woman’s posture suggests both authority and hesitation. She has returned to a space that should feel familiar, yet something is undeniably wrong.

*** ABOUT THIS PAINTING ***
* TITLE: "The hostess came home"
* ARTISTS: Igor Konovalov
* SIZE: 120x90 cm/'47.24x35.43 inches'
* MEDIUM: oil, canvas
* HAND PAINTED: Original painting from our collection
* CONDITION: we tried to convey the maximum information with the help of photos about this product

About the artist: He was born in 1965 in the city of Novy Bug.

1983—1987 — Dnipropetrovsk State Art School.

1987—1993 — Kyiv State Art Institute.

Since 1993, co-founder of the art commune "Squat on Olehivska Street", the activity of which has two periods:

1993—1996 — "classic squat" (occupation of premises for workshops and housing, exhibition activity, as a practice of introduction into society).

1996-2006 — "fictitious squat" (author of the project — Fiction Gallery Expedition. — going beyond workshops and galleries (institutions) into open urban space.

The founder of the Hill-art direction (art on the hills), within the framework of which actions were held and facilities were created on the hills of Kyiv.

2010-2020 - develops the author's mythology, which he called "Infodelica".

The creator of paintings, promotions, objects and video art.

Lives and works in Kyiv.

EXHIBITIONS

Personal exhibitions:

2020 - Recreation room, Kyiv History Museum, Kyiv

2019 - "Voices", CSM "Soviart", Kyiv

2018 - "Two Pages", Kyiv History Museum, Kyiv

2017 - "Point of support", CSM "Soviart", Kyiv

2016 – "Presidency", CSM "Soviart", Kyiv

2016 - "Relax", CSM "Soviart", Kyiv

2015 – "Wi-Fi", DTEK Academy, business center "Eurasia", Kyiv

2013 - "Infa&infadelika", 8-bit Gallery, Kyiv

2012 - "Infa", Gallery "Forest", Moscow, Russia

2011 - "Infa", RA Gallery, Kyiv

2010 – I. Konovalov, Museum of Sovr. image of Arts of Ukraine (MSIIU), Kyiv

2009 – "Golden Mountains", RA Gallery, Kyiv

2008 - Ctrl-Z, RA Gallery, Kyiv

Group exhibitions:

2020 – ART CAPITAL, Grand Palais, Paris. Salon Comparaisons, groupe Alain Campello

2017 - "Squat on Olehivska Street", Sumy Municipal Gallery, Sumy

2015 – Museum collections, Ukrainian modern art. (1985-2015)

2015 – "Coefficient of independence" (America House), Kyiv

2015 - "Art for the sake of life" - charity project, "Art Arsenal", Kyiv

2014 - The 21st nude art exhibition "MAN & WOMAN", At the Museum of New Art, Pärnu, Estonia

2012 - "Squat on Olehivska Street", M17 Center of Contemporary Art, Kyiv

2012 - Art-Moscow, 16th International Art Fair, Moscow, Russia

2011 - "Independents", New art of the new country 1991-2011, "Art Arsenal", Kyiv

2011 – "Space Odyssey-2011", "Art Arsenal", Kyiv

2010 - Art project "AUT" - international art project, Chocolate House, Kyiv

Press:

• Catalog for a personal exhibition: I. Konovalov, Museum of Modern Fine Arts of Ukraine (MSIIU), "Infa", "Forest" Gallery

• The book "Squat on Olehivska Street" (1993 - 2015), Kyiv

• Collection of the Museum of Ukrainian Modern Art 1985–2015 from private collections

25 years of presence. Modern Ukrainian artists. 1991-2016, Kyiv

• Collection of catalogs of participation in numerous exhibitions and auctions

Works are located:

• Dnipropetrovsk Art Museum

• Museum of Modern Fine Arts of Ukraine (MSIIU)

• Kyiv History Museum

• In private meetings: Boris and Tetyana Hrynievych, Igor Voronov, Igor Abramovich, Oleg Krasnosilskyi, Volodymyr Kashirskyi, and others.