kolya kotov / bruises of those who side hustle as muses
9 AUGUST 2024 - 25 AUGUST 2024
the frame you found for me
which you said was safer for crushing
in color red, left to be
by someone forward rushing
its presence in the gaze only produces
uncanny thigh bruises
of those who side hustle as muses
Helsinki-based artist kolya kotov creates intimate and thought-provoking narratives through their work. The works in the exhibition are intimately and inextricably rooted in the artist's own life, at the intersection of identity and experience. The autobiographical works combine textiles, photography and kinetic sculptures.
The self-portrait printed on textile contains references to various forces that shape and reorganise ideas about gender, animality and the expectations attached to them. The limblike forms moving with programmed motors are images of the artist's body parts manipulated beyond recognition. The works both fragment the subjects they represent and highlight the chains of meaning broken by the dehumanisation and objectification of trans and queer bodies.
kotov studied fashion design at the Moscow Institute of Art and Design and holds a Master of Fine Arts degree from the Academy of Fine Arts. kotov themself avoids theorising and conceptualising their work. This approach began as a defiance of grammatical rules and capital letters, rebelliously refusing to conform to existing norms, structures and rules.