Sasha Katz x Guests is an immersion into Sasha Katz’s artistic universe, shedding light on what inspires and nourishes her creations, and the unique encounter between her work and that of artists she admires. The exhibition subtly explores the notions of fate and free will.
Curated by 1703/ Elisabeth Karolyi
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> Article White Mirror, by Nina Knaack
Through a gallery of unconventional portraits, the Russian-born artist takes us into a mysterious inner world, populated by enigmatic heroines with inscrutable thoughts. Who are they? Where do they come from? And what are they telling us?
At first glance, the images’ distinctive style questions, as it develops in a liminal space, much like the characters it surrounds: these three-dimensionally modeled women flirt with photorealism while carefully avoiding it, as if to remind us that this is all an imaginary world. Their skin could actually be made of wax, despite the sweat, some body hair and a few beauty marks... It is tempting to think about sculpture, were it not for the fact that these are images... The blurring and photographic-like framing contribute to disorienting the viewer about the how and why of these representations.
Sasha Katz grew up in the sprawling, eclectic and mercurial Soviet city of Moscow. From her childhood, she remembers the fairy tales and the Slavic mythology, popular science books, and the exhibitions her grandmother would take her to.
A retrospective of Mikhail Vrubel, a leading figure of the Symbolist movement in Russia, was a revelation. The painter depicted mystical themes in large scales. Sasha was captivated by his demons, and this encounter on canvas of myth and matter became an obsession she would soon make her own.
Educated at the British Higher School of Arts and Design, she quickly evolved her personal artistic practice towards the representation of female nudes, in turn provocative, militant, sensual, funny, moving, and secretive. These are non-standard beauties, and it is perhaps here that we can best speak of realism: Sasha idealizes nothing, and celebrates everything - the beautiful and the ugly, the pure and the obscure. Inspired by those who populate the artist’s life, close friends or figures met in passing, these women have left a mark on her: Sasha Katz does not replicate them, but expresses a physical detail, a perceived emotion, a feeling. She then stages them, making them perform the drama of existence, enacting a contemporary myth woven with recurring themes of solitude, desire, and death. Are these women free, or trapped in alienation?
Seventeen artworks by Sasha Katz, from seven series created between 2022 and 2024, are displayed at the Galerie Data. They reflect her personal quest in a unique style. The images are dense, often melancholic, yet they conceal a certain vital energy. A world of powerful women, where love is life-saving.
Three guest artworks complete this selection. The Profile of Marguerite Khnopff, created in 1921, is a lithograph by Fernand Khnopff, Belgian master of the Symbolist movement. A few months before his death, he portrayed his sister in a state that could be described as one of grace, tinged with eroticism. This piece beautifully echoes the work of Sasha Katz, its mystical and sensual dimension, addressing themes transcending centuries.
Doused in the Bright Light by Natalia Shlyakhovaya depicts Moscow in the early morning. Part of the 2013 series The Light, which captures stolen moments of youth in search of meaning, this photograph illustrates the genesis of Sasha Katz. Great beauty emanates from the coldness and unease it portrays - an aesthetic of gloom that will later appear in her own work.
Heir Apparent is an artwork by Ganbrood. The Dutch artist is particularly known for his photorealistic portraits conceived with AI, exploring the fine line between illusion and reality. Specially created for the exhibition, the image features two young children indolently gazing in the distance, their destiny seemingly already determined. It is this very question of fate that links this work to the works of Sasha Katz. While everything has already been decided for these children, nothing is written for Sasha’s women, eternally free or desiring to be, eternally searching. And who knows if the little girl with the headdress isn’t going to become one of these heroines a few years from now, running, climaxing, or finding salvation in the dark waters?
Sasha Katz x Guests
From 24 April to 10 May
Opening on Thursday 24 April, from 6pm to 9pm
