For PHOTOFAIRS Shanghai-2019 Anna Nova Gallery is delighted to present works by Valery Katsuba and Uldus Bakhtiozina. PHOTOFAIRS Shanghai is Asia Pacific’s leading fair dedicated to photo-based and digital artworks, which will take place from 19 to 22 September 2019 at Shanghai Exhibition Centre.
Debuting for the first time in China, Anna Nova Gallery presents carefully selected photographs that reflect the romantic aesthetics of Russian culture, which for many years had a great influence on the Chinese audience. Valery Katsuba’s elegant exploration of the human body and human relations through photography set in a dialogue with symbolic still life photography by Uldus Bakhtiozina that pushes her audience to modify their views, expand their narrow perceptions, think deeper and stimulates their imagination with a vengeance.
Selected works from Valery Katsuba’s series ‘Air Flight. Body Shock’, ‘Phiscultura’, ‘The Model: Classic and Contemporary' reveal the depths of the artist’s aesthetic research and allow the viewer to trace the artist’s practice throughout his career. Valery Katsuba stands on the foundation of rich creative expression in Russian art history and pays his own homage to the grand tradition of Russian literature. Katsuba’s works are much inspired by personal experience, the times, and the changing aesthetics of body forms throughout the history. Through the powerful lines of these elegant bodies, his photos speak out the desire for perfection, as well as the yearning for brilliance, beauty, and purity that people share in common.
Valery Katsuba (b.1965) was born in Belarus, lives and works in Madrid, Spain. The artist works both as a photographer and film director, he makes performances and writes stories. He has been exhibited worldwide, his works are included in the collections of the National Centre for Arts and Culture Georges Pompidou (France), Museum of the San Fernando Royal Academy of Fine Arts (Spain), Centre for Contemporary Art of the 2nd of May (Spain), Photo Printing Promotion Association (South Korea), National Centre for the Plastic Arts (France), and many others.
Uldus Bakhtiozina is an exquisite and masterful narrator with a celestial talent to bring us the most sublime, mystical, and transcendent photography. She takes us on a journey, challenges our notions, and gently nudges us with her astonishing images to recreate our own fantasies and take them to a higher level. For the artist’s first presentation in China gallery curators selected the best examples of artist's still life photography from her renowned series ‘Russland’ and ‘Conjured Life’. In an attempt to establish a dialogue with the Symbolism of Chinese culture, in which every object has a meaning, Uldus Bakhtiozina’s mysterious photographs give room for various interpretations and invite the viewer to reflect on similarities at the root of Russian and Chinese Cultures. Uldus Bakhtiozina (b.1986) has gained a worldwide reputation as an artist, film director, and public speaker. Her works have been exhibited worldwide and were featured in various publications. She lives and works in St Petersburg, Russia.
Anna Nova Gallery’s booth presentation was curated by Elena Strygina.
