Love Island | 10th Cosmoscow International Art Fair |
14 – 17 Sep 2022

About
©Copyright Fabula Gallery | by Rattlesnake Group Limited
Curators: Elena Fadeeva, Alina Chichikova
Dates: 14 - 17 Sep 2022
Artists: Ilia Zharkov
Alexander Lemish
Elena Minaeva
EDXXKAT
Date:

January 24, 2023

Category:

Love Island | 10th Cosmoscow International Art Fair |
14 – 17 Sep 2022

Fābula gallery is happy to present a group project Love Island at Cosmoscow 2022.

The booth features a selection of works by three young artists, two of whom, Ilia Zharkov and Alexander Lemish, will make their debut at Cosmoscow this year. Ilia Zharkov’s background as a tattoo artist is easy to follow in his visual language, where abstract and naive elements are juxtaposed with references to hyperrealism and the classics of surrealism.

The technique that Alexander Lemish addresses in his works is an absolute phenomenon on the contemporary Russian market. Digital painting, created using an iPad and a smartphone, is then manually finalized by the artist. The final product combines materials such as paper, metal and acrylic composite. The genre in which the artist works can be described as magical realism: mundane objects and scenes are interpreted by Alexander through the prism of surrealism, thus acquiring an “alien” vibe that echoes the atmosphere of thrillers and horror films.

Elena Minaeva’s works, chosen from various series, also overlaps with the aesthetics of surrealism and romantism. The characters from the series “A room of one’s own” are reflections of the artist’s strange dreams: in a dark viscous atmosphere, figures and unsteady outlines are frozen in sleep paralysis. The series “Mysterious Volzhsky. Aliens” was the result of a study of reports documenting human encounters with aliens, as well as existing communities that gather around this topic.

The booth’s concept as well as its collectible design objects presented on it – a bed and a mirror – have been created by the architect duo Katy Pititskaya and Eduard Eremchuk (EDXXKAT). Their outstanding and bold visual language can be traced in their recent projects: the Nothing Fancy cafe in St. Petersburg and the Kruzhok cafe in Voronezh, as well as in a series of functional objects, some of which were exhibited at the Softland exhibition held in our gallery in January this year. The collection presented at the fābula gallery booth at Cosmoscow 2022 is called “Grand Amour”.

The heart-shaped bed and a mirror recreate the atmosphere of a boudoir: an intimate space where lovers can hide from the rest of the world, or of a young girl’s bedroom, where lucid dreams coexist with posters of her favorite performers, and sweet reverie meets inexplicable melancholy and longing.

About the artists:

Ilia Zharkov

The main theme that prevails in Ilia’s artistic practice is the coexistence and juxtaposition of the material culture and the human body. In his works, he refers to the idols of mass culture: cartoon and game characters, celebrities. Dry realism in his work continuously transforms into naive, hypertrophied forms and vice versa. Ilia defines his artistic language as a synthetic yet dynamic product, a mixture of images borrowed from pop culture and his own subjective worldview. The artist lives and works in Moscow.

Alexander Lemish

In his works, Alexander explores modern reality through the prism of the phenomena of Internet culture, social networks, and horror aesthetics. Analysing their connection with everyday life he is combining various media: painting, video- and total installations. The artist lives and works in Moscow, he is a resident of the Moscow self-organized site IP Vinogradov. Studied at BAZA Institute.

Elena Minaeva

In her practice Elena experiments with the ability of art to reassemble reality and to reinvent it. Her main focus is on visual reality as representation of ideas and ideologies. Looking back to the past, Elena creates a visual dictionary – an archive of reinvented memories which crystallise in this series of artworks. However, she also looks into the near future, and invents rules and actions that are yet free of meanings and connotations. Elena Minaeva lives and works in Moscow and Saint Petersburg. Her works are included in private collections in Russia, France and the US.

EDXXKAT | Eduard Eremchuk, Katy Pititskaya

Eduard studied at the Southern Federal University in Rostov-on-Don, and later had an internship at BUREAU BETAK, New York. Katy received her BArch degree at the Moscow Institute of Architecture, following which she pursued her studies with a MArch degree at the Politecnico di Milano under Patricia Urquiola. After graduation, she worked with Massimiliano Locatelli and created the Laroque st* brand, specialising in carpets issued in limited editions.

Currently, the bureau is engaged in public and residential interiors, as well as international architecture and furniture production. The focus of the projects is the juxtaposition of contemporary culture, fashion, and art.