Yelena Popova
USSR, 1978
Yelena Popova’s works recall the graphics and aesthetics of Russian Constructivism, Minimalism and Spiritual Abstraction, which are presented in her paintings in almost transparent geometric forms. Growing up in a secret Soviet nuclear settlement, Yelena often turns her attention to nuclear history and heritage. Through reverberation of the modernist aesthetics, self made paint and foraged pigments, Popova tries to capture the continuous industrial development and the landscape of contemporary capitalism.
In 2014, she was shortlisted for the Arts Foundation Award in Painting and selected to be part of Thames and Hudson’s new publication 100 Painters of Tomorrow. In 2016, her work was included in Vitamin P3 (The 108 International Artists Revolutionizing Painting Today), published by Phaidon Press. Group shows include: Matter as Actor, Lisson Gallery curated by Greg Hilty (2023); Slow Painting, curated by Martin Herbert for Hayward touring (2019), Perpetual Uncertainty, curated by Ele Carpenter (2017), Future Light curated by Maria Lind for Vienna Biennale (2015).
