The group exhibition will feature seven prominent and emerging Russian artists showcasing a new face of Russian contemporary art.

Anastassia Katafygiotis’s Early Spring is a lively representation of the signature Russian architecture and the classical Moscow street scene, which she was profoundly inspired by. The bright pop colour enlivens the tranquility of the traditional daily life, which embodies a unique cityscape portrait.

Ekaterina Kiseleva masterfully depicts the darkness and negativity of human condition. In her Summer Rain and High Tea, two young girls which symbolize fragility and innocence are either under an unpleasant rain or surrounded by a flock of black crows. Their sadness symbolizes the misery and threats that human is facing, for example, death, natural disasters, uncertainty, etc. Their desperate seek for protection illustrates the fear of human.

Regardless of the subjects, Irina Surikova portraits them with an astonishing spectrum of shades and captures the light and its reflection in her paintings. Her exceptional observation and skills created dazzling colours, fully conveying a beautiful city at dawn, a blossoming garden in a fresh morning and flowers under late afternoon sunlight.

Highly recognized by the massive use of mythical symbols and geometry in composition, Wlad Safronow modernized the ancient symbols to enrich the narration of human history or primeval myths in his painting. He portrayed “The New Mythology”, as he identified himself, with playful Goddess with long flowing hair, elongated necks and flirtatious gaze, rendering a strong sense of cynicism.

Inspired by the city in which she has lived, Evgenya Knyazeya created a series of distinctive paintings based on Hong Kong landscape with her poetic imagination. The artist showcased her elegant artistry in the symmetrically balanced composition and the decorative details. The beautiful illustration of Russian architecture suggests implicitly her lighthearted nostalgia over her motherland.

Stating his purpose of creativity is joyfulness, Andrey Petruxin draws the audience into his wonderland and encourages them to embark their adventure in his world. His painting constantly inhabits folklore characters like alkonosts (the bird brings happiness and good luck). One of the distinguishing features of his artwork is the mirroring of reality and fictional, fairytale world. The disproportional scaling of subjects is an intentional violation of composition law, which starts from the Egyptian icon paintings, showing the greatness of a hero through his size. The artist showcases authoritatively his subjectivity over the reality as a creator of his fantastic world.

Elena Klimova’s First Snow is a great artwork of mythical realism. Educated and trained classically, the artist depicted an angel, which is a symbol of pureness, guardianship and hope, brings about the first snow, which shares the same symbolism as the angel. Light and Hope, in an artist’s heart, are the forever pursuit and endeavor.

Image: © Evgenya Knyazeya, Red Square Gallery