On September 24th 2020, Pavart Art Gallery will open the solo exhibition IN VOLO by Olga Tekheva, a Russian artist who presents a series of contemporary textile art works.
All the artworks are produced specifically for this art exhibition and have never been exhibited before. The main theme of the exhibition is the flight of the dragonfly, a symbol of lightness, freedom and change. A perfect combination of horizontal and vertical lines, almost minimal in their "Mondrianesque" austerity, but reminiscent of the vertical and horizontal rhythms of the weave.
The artifact as an art object, the artist's main point of interest. An object with rich textures and an unpredictable combination of materials, which changes the perception of space and reality by opening the door to a world of "fairy tales for adults". It reminds us of our childhood feelings and dreams that made us become much more than we thought but gave us the strength to fly towards life.
All artistic elements are hand crafted, with many hand embroideries. Olga Teksheva never uses machineries, she fully maintains the presence of her hand and heart. Teksheva's textile works become magical materials. Referring to fabrics, we all have our own personal life experiences, they cover us, give us comfort, make us attractive, protect us from cold and heat. Thus her textile art can bridge the gap between the observer towards a contemporary artwork because it makes it less conceptual and more emotional, as something we know well.
The exhibit was originally scheduled for May 2020, but was canceled due to global lockdown. The experience of closure, fear and uncertainty experienced by the artist and by the whole world convinced the her even more that we all need our moments of flight. For this reason this exhibition will be much more contemporary than it should have been, and becomes a unique experience for the artist and for visitors approaching art in the new post-coronavirus lockdown era.
Teksheva was born in Moscow in 1973 in Moscow, graduated in Art History in 1996 at the Lomonosov Moscow State University and in Drawing and Painting in 2006 at the Liudmila Ermolaeva Studio. Since 1993 she has collaborated in fashion sector with various editorial offices and magazines. In 2000 she began writing for "L'Officiel" (Russia), in 2007 she also collaborated with "Collezioni" (Russia) and "Black Square" (contemporary art magazine). In 2008 she moved to Rome to attend a course in Fashion and Costume Design at the Academy of Costume and Fashion, she received her Bachelor of Arts in 2011. After some collaborations in the field of fashion she realizes that the needs of wearability are limited respect to the research she would like to develop. She abandons fashion and devotes herself to contemporary art, with her first solo exhibition in Rome in 2017. The exhibition brings her to the attention of Velia Littera, art curator, founder of the Pavart gallery in Rome. Thus their collaboration begins with a collective art exhibition Flusso di Linfa in 2017, a double solo exhibition Echoes of land and sea for RAW 2018, the collective Homing in 2019 and culminates in 2020 with this solo art exhibition In Volo.
Olga is also a member of the Society for Embroidery Work and participated at the first Contemporary Stitched Art exhibition in 2019. In 2019 she was selected to participate to the international Art Rooms fair in Rome with a Special Mention, and created two site specific fiber installations, one of which as a special project for Ford Italy. Her works are mainly installations of fabrics and fibers, wall fabric sculptures and installations that mix various techniques of contemporary textile art: fiber-art, collage, hand embroidery, crochet, weaving. Nature is her favorite source of inspiration, in fact, many works begin with a graphic research of natural shapes and textures drawn by hand on her secret sketchbook. So, a small organic detail can become a huge textile panel.
The beauty, diversity and monumental aspects of nature, so important in this period, in which all of us will necessarily have to change our attitude towards our wonderful planet we live in, is for Olga Teksheva an infinite source of artistic creation.
Through art Olga Teksheva tells about her inner world, she makes us fly like dragonflies!
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