Young Russian Artists: The Rite of Spring

The subjects for my appliqués arise every day, independently, spontaneously, and naturally. Some objects attract my attention with the plasticity of their shape, strange colour, unusual design – or, sometimes, the other way round by appearing amazingly simple. I extract them from their surroundings and put them on paper, creating portraits of these objects which highlight their hidden beauty. 

"Through working with appliqués, I began to recognise components and narratives that fit harmoniously into the overall concept of my work. This can happen in the most random of everyday moments – for example, when I sit on the toilet for too long and immerse myself in the geometry of old Soviet tiles, or when I go home in a bad mood with my head hung low looking at cigarette butts mixed with leaves on the asphalt, or when I get dressed on a spring morning and notice a bruise on my ass – a new work is being glued in my head. Real objects reduced to their minimal shapes and composed of monochrome paper are collected in a personal short story – I embrace their simplicity while also revealing their complexity.” - Zina Isupova, 2021.

Zina Isupova is a multimedia artist based in Moscow. She works with painting, installation, and sculpture and uses the aesthetics of everyday life and images from popular culture. Focusing on household items, she creates bright paper collages that convey modern social landscapes.  Born in 1996 in Kyiv. Lives and works in Moscow.

Accolades
Education: Taras Shevchenko State Art School, Painting, Kyiv, Ukraine, 2007-13. The Rodchenko Moscow School of Photography and Multimedia, Photography, Sculpture and Video, 2013-16.
Awards: French Institute and the French Embassy in Russia – Special Prize, 2015.
Solo Exhibitions: Dust (together with Ilya Isupov), Ducat Gallery, Kyiv, 2018. The Area of Inauthenticity, Fragment Gallery, Moscow, 2017. Swept Away, START, Winzavod Centre Of Contemporary Art, Moscow. 2015.
Selected Group Exhibitions: Self-Isolation Museum, Museum of Moscow, 2021. Russian Poor, Heritage Gallery, Moscow, 2021. 2nd Garage Triennial of Russian Contemporary Art, Garage Museum, Moscow, 2020. Between Fire and Fire: Ukrainian Art Now, Semperdepot Atelierhaus der Akademie der bildenden Künste Wien, Vienna, 2019. Clear Sound of Clay Whistle, Typography, Centre Of Contemporary Art, Krasnodar, Russia, 2019. Mach mit Mach’s nach Mah’s besser, Atelierhaus Australische,  Botschaft, Berlin, 2018. Takeoff, Forecast Exhibition,  VDNKh, Moscow, 2017. Versus, Pinchuk Art Center, Kyiv, 2017. To the Beacon, The form and policy of light, Museum of Contemporary Art PERMM, Perm, 2017. City in Private Time, Fragment Gallery, Moscow, 2017. Only Unofficial Language, Winzavod Centre Of Contemporary Art, Moscow, 2017. Confidence limit, Yermilov Centre, Kharkiv, Ukraine, 2015. Leaving tomorrow, Winzavod Centre Of Contemporary Art, Moscow, 2015. HOORAY! SCULPTURE!, Winzavod Centre Of Contemporary Art, Moscow, 2015

@zinaisupova