Triumph gallery presents the first solo show by artist from St. Petersburg Eva Helki. The exhibition is organized as part of the Launchpad program run by the gallery for support of young art.

Eva Helki uses a wide range of techniques, some of which are presented in her paintings and installations at the exhibition. The artists' work reimagines mythological narratives and projects them onto present-day reality. The characters in Eva’s work are her friends, and the paintings are set on Vasilevskiy Island where the artist lives.

The aesthetic of Eva’s works is closer to reverent attention, which she pays to metamorphoses as a process, rather than to another restatement of timeless values that have been expressed through myth. The artist tends to show instances of incomplete transformation, as if oscillating between the past and the future, between understatement and finality, beginning and end.

This desire to capture the metamorphose itself finds manifestation in Eva’s medium of choice: in her paintings on plywood, the foreground and background overlay to form something in between a canvas and an assemblage. This two-fold effect is aided by introduction of other materials as well: mirrors, plexiglass, tempera. The setting and context for these works can thus be easily changed and rearranged; the characters are then untethered from any specific topos—the only important thing is what is happening with them.

2020
Temperature on wood
Ø 152 cm

The aesthetic of Eva’s works is closer to reverent attention, which she pays to metamorphoses as a process, rather than to another restatement of timeless values that have been expressed through myth. The artist tends to show instances of incomplete transformation, as if oscillating between the past and the future, between understatement and finality, beginning and end.

This desire to capture the metamorphose itself finds manifestation in Eva’s medium of choice: in her paintings on plywood, the foreground and background overlay to form something in between a canvas and an assemblage. This two-fold effect is aided by introduction of other materials as well: mirrors, plexiglass, tempera. The setting and context for these works can thus be easily changed and rearranged; the characters are then untethered from any specific topos—the only important thing is what is happening with them.

In Eva's work the mimetic is intertwined with the mystical, and the personal with the mythical. Together, these opposites form the world of the multiple archetypes that survive from other eras and roam among us. This world is its own projection onto Vasilevskiy Island, a utopian island of the blessed where the people in paintings are frozen still, sheer moments before their metamorphose is finally complete.

Advance booking required to visit the exhibition, please proceed to the gallery’s official website. Then select the date and time that suit you best. Note that the number of visitors is limited. For your convenience, book the visit ahead of time. You can cancel your booking at info@truimph-gallery.ru or +7 (495) 162−08−93.

Curator: Sofia Kovaleva

2020
Tempera on wood, mixed media
100 × 75 cm

In Eva's work the mimetic is intertwined with the mystical, and the personal with the mythical. Together, these opposites form the world of the multiple archetypes that survive from other eras and roam among us. This world is its own projection onto Vasilevskiy Island, a utopian island of the blessed where the people in paintings are frozen still, sheer moments before their metamorphose is finally complete.

Advance booking required to visit the exhibition, please proceed to the gallery’s official website. Then select the date and time that suit you best. Note that the number of visitors is limited. For your convenience, book the visit ahead of time. You can cancel your booking at info@truimph-gallery.ru or +7 (495) 162−08−93.

Curator: Sofia Kovaleva