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red art club
Public Order
2023
Oil on Board
Katia’s art is often informed by her experiences of activism. She is a member of an anti-capitalist community choir and as such, takes part in various actions and protests across London. Originally from Russia, Katia was happy to have escaped the toughening authoritarianism in her home country when she moved to the UK nearly 15 years ago - only to discover that the freedom of speech and political expression is increasingly under attack in her new home as well. The piece presented at this exhibition started as an emotional response to the police brutality unleashed on the peaceful climate protestors from the Just Stop Oil group during their slow marches through the streets of London in Autumn 2023. Because of the associated risk of being arrested, the artist did not personally take part in these actions, but used photographs and videos found on social media as reference. Inspired by the works of Francis Bacon and Jenny Saville, who’s signature style includes exposing the ‘history’ of the artist’s decision-making process in the form of traces of marks layered on top of each other, Katia experimented with brush strokes and consistency of paint in order to achieve an effect similar to double exposure in photography. A dense composition of intertwined human bodies and flashing lights evokes the sense of entrapment and claustrophobia, prompting the viewer to question the role of police in society.
KATIA EGORUSHKINA
Katia Egorushkina is an artist and activist based in London. She works in a variety of mediums including drawing, painting, printmaking and sculpture.
Katia trained during her teenage years in post-soviet Russia, but did not pursue a professional career in arts as she was persuaded by far family to look for a more ‘practical’ occupation. A couple of decades later, Katia decided to go back to the arts, inspired by her newly discovered political awareness and involvement in activism. As a middle-aged person with entrapments of having to raise a child in London without any savings or support from extended family, going back to art for her was a political act in itself.
As a believer in the potential of art to carry social messages by evoking emotional response from the audience, Katia infuses her artistic practice with powerful visual narratives often revolving around the themes of neoliberalism and its critique, war, state violence and alternative forms of social order.
Follow Katia on instagram - @katiaonthehill
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