Katya Muromtseva

WOMEN IN BLACK AGAINST THE WAR

KATYA MUROMTSEVA AT PUSHKIN HOUSE

Dates: 26 May 2023 – 29 July 2023

Pushkin House is excited to present a solo exhibition by artist Katya Muromtseva from 26 May until 29 July 2023 (preview on 25 May, from 6pm to 9pm). 

Katya Muromtseva has created a series of portraits of “Women in Black Against the War”, borrowing imagery from one of the silent protests initiated by Feminist Anti-War Resistance, a group of Russian feminists founded in February 2022 to protest against the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. The activists would blur their faces from images to avoid being incarcerated.  

Since February 2022, women have gone into the squares and public spaces of Russian cities clad in black and bearing white flowers, mourning victims of the Russian aggression. Poetic watercolours are monochrome and grim, but offer a conviction that there is always a chance for political subjectivity. As long as we are alive, we should be looking for ways to fight against oppression.

Muromtseva writes: “I created these works to share my belief that it is possible to raise your voice against injustice under any kind of pressure, even if your protest looks like a wake. I stand in solidarity with everyone who has the courage to protest the war in any possible manner.”

Political protest in Russia has predominantly taken a female face. Women and girls have managed to establish effective cross-national networks of solidarity. They stage subtle anti-war actions, organise media campaigns, fight disinformation, support refugees and provide psychological help. At times when most public politicians fighting the regime are either disoriented or incarcerated, anonymous activists work daily to build up grassroots resistance against the Russian police state and its military machine. There is constant danger inherent in their activities. State violence disproportionately targets men, but does not shy away from putting young feminists in prison for years.

The exhibition continues with portraits of political prisoners held captive by the Russian state. Each portrait provides some information on their cases, to draw attention to the fight against Russian colonial aggression that is almost invisible due to government censorship.

During the first weeks of the exhibition, in May–June, the artist will be offering individual life drawing sessions. Each session will take from thirty minutes to an hour, during which the artist will talk to the visitor and paint a watercolour portrait of their shadow. Through this process-based work, Muromtseva aims to connect with the audience of Pushkin House and to get them involved as political subjects, inviting them to make a donation to support Ukrainians.

About Katya Muromtseva

Katya Muromtseva is a visual artist with a background in philosophy and stage design, whose lyrical-conceptual work investigates personal and collective memory through imaginative forms of documentation. She has had solo exhibitions at the M HKA Museum, Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, Moscow Museum of Contemporary Art, XL Gallery, Art Front Gallery, and Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennial, among others. She was part of a group show at Steirischer Herbst Festival in 2018 and 2022. In 2020 she was a resident at WHW Academy in Zagreb. The same year, she was a winner of the Present Continuous programme of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Antwerp (M HKA).

She received the “Innovation” contemporary art prize in 2020 and Fulbright fellowship in 2020–2022. Her exhibitions and individual works were covered by ArtForum, The Economist, The New York Times, The World and TokyoArtBeat, among others. During the summer of 2022 she received the Edmund Muskie professional fellowship. Currently she is a teaching fellow at Virginia Commonwealth University Arts School in the United States.

Website: https://www.muromtseva.art/ | Instagram: @katya_muromtseva