Maxim Trulov and Ksusha Lastochka: NOWHERELAND

EVENT DESCRIPTION

In its ongoing effort to showcase the most prolific contemporary artists from around the globe, Gallery Ascend, a leading Hong Kong art gallery, is pleased to announce the upcoming opening of “NOWHERELAND?, featuring the latest work by the artists Ksusha Lastochka and Maxim Trulov.

It is not uncommon to find characters and locations within the universe of Maxim Trulov and Ksusha Lastochka that reflect their current environment. Despite being close to surrealism, the Nowhereland project reinterprets contemporary realities. The artists represent locations in their works with a habitual way of life that disturbances cannot alter. In Nowhereland, there is a wide range of characters. Some are in doubt and have endless inner monologues, some ignore what’s happening, and others are lost in confusion. There is tangible darkness in the artists’ universe, but also the knowledge that dawn will come.

In 2006, Maxim began his career as a graffiti artist. Initially, he worked with color in a figurative manner, then gradually moved into monochrome scaling, and his characters became minimalist. After working in the illustration genre in the early 2010s, Lastochka moved on to street art and studio work. Using a monochrome color scheme, Lastochka has always created cartoonish artwork. Since 2017, Trulov and Lastochka have worked together as a duo. They decided to collaborate during this period, and their characters started coexisting in the same fictional worlds. Because of their similar artistic styles and subject matter, the artists collaborated as a couple and later married.

The juxtaposition and collaboration in black and white create visually impressive works that will inspire the audience to look inward as they reflect on the monochromatic, minimalist pieces.

ABOUT THE ARTIST / ORGANISER

Maxim Trulov and Ksusha Lastochka have been working as a duo since 2017. Maxim began his career as a graffiti artist in 2006. Initially he worked with color in a figurative manner, and later he gradually moved into monochrome scale, and his characters became minimalistic. During this period Trulov and Lastochka decided to collaborate and characters they've created together have started to coexist in the same fictional universes in their artworks. Ksusha Lastochka worked in the illustration genre in the early 2010s, later she had moved on to street art and a studio practice. Lastochka has always created her artworks in a cartoonish manner using a monochrome color scheme. The similarity of their artistic style and the subject matter of the works encouraged artists to work together as an artistic duo and later as a happily married couple.

Since 2015, Maxim Trulov and Ksusha Lastochka have been experimenting with intervention to the street space with posters and wooden figurative objects. Since then, the artists have begun to create their own universe of characters. At the moment there are about a hundred characters in it. Artists have been exhibiting together since 2017 experimenting with forms and techniques. Wood is a main material of their art practice. Most significant works have been made in the format of carved wooden objects of various scales. The artists use a diversity of techniques to create a paint layer, and pay particular attention to their work with textures.