Syntax Gallery
09.11.2024
Fictional Landscapes
about
Women-led galleries from the UAE, Belgium, Armenia, and Russia are launching a collectively curated female artists group show Fictional Landscapes which will open on November 9th at Foundry Downtown Dubai.

Syntax Gallery is pleased to announce showcasing works by Olya Kroytor, Liudmila Konstantinova, Anna Komarova, Vasilisa Palianina.

Fictional Landscapes brings together more than 20 female artists from post-Soviet countries including Northern and Southern Caucasus, Central Asia as well as from the MENA region who live and work all around the globe. The show explores the concept of landscape—both real and imagined—as a powerful reflection of personal and collective narratives.

Through various media, including textile, video, painting, and performance, the exhibition examines how landscapes are not only physical terrains but also mental and emotional spaces shaped by memory, identity, and migration. The exhibition also probes the relationships between time, space, and power, imagining worlds that transcend current geopolitical constraints. Through the theme of landscape, the curators delve into issues such as domestic violence, female environment, migrations and ways of coping with reality.
Most of the participating artists have gained international recognition, having exhibited at biennales around the world, including the Venice Biennale, the Sharjah Biennale. The show features established artists such as Irina Nakhova, Irina Zatulovskaya, Oksana Mas and Olya Ktoytor, alongside emerging artists like Diana Shliman, Mary Badalian, Maryam Ashikyan and Anna Afonina, as well as UAE-based artists Fatima Uzdenova, Sophiya Khwaja, Olia Breva.

The exhibition is organised by women-owned Alisa Gallery, Nadya Kotova Gallery, Sardi Gallery, Syntax Gallery, and women-led pop/off/art.One of the objectives of the exhibition is to draw attention to the issue of the presence, representation and pricing of women's work in the contemporary art industry.

Curated by Nadine Khalil, Alisa Bagdonaite, Serafima Kostrova.
ANNA KOMAROVA
Anna Komarova was born in Yekaterinburg in 1997. She works with space; she is interested in the relationship between man and the environment, themes of memory, death, collisions between the natural and man-made. She is interested in the possibility of immersing the viewer in an environment that is unusual for him, in which he could gain new experiences.Having a theatrical background, the artist works primarily with installations and objects, as well as digital and sound art.

Studied at the Moscow Art Theater School (Scenography) and the The School of contemporary art «Free workshops» in Moscow Museum of Modern art. Graduate of the 8th season of Winzavod Open Studios.

LIUDMILA KONSTANTINOVA

Graduated from Moscow Architectural Institute and the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA, Moscow). For a long time Konstantinova illustrated various publications and participated in exhibitions. In 2010 she became a member of the VGLAZ art group, and has been participating in Group exhibitions with VGLAZ as well as solo exhibitions. Konstantinova's works can be found in the collections of the State Tretyakov Gallery (Moscow), Saatchi Gallery (London) and numerous private collections all over the world. Lives and works in Moscow.

OLYA KROYTOR

Olya is an active participant of domestic and international projects, works in the field of easel art, video, photography and performance. Was born in 1986 in Moscow. Graduated from the Artistic Graphic Department of the Moscow Pedagogical State University, the Moscow Museum of Modern Art "Free Workshops" and the Institute of Problems of Contemporary Art. Member The Association of Icelandic Visual Artists (SÍM).

Vasilisa Palianina
Vasilisa Palianina (b. 1986, Minsk, Belarus). Lives and works in Berlin, Germany.

Palianina works with the topics of sexual identity, gender, human and animal natures and Belarusian politics through mythology. She works across graphics, installation, and performance, applying experimental techniques. Since 2019 is member of the art group “Who Except Us” (duet with Andrey Anro). Since 2023 is member of the art collective “Shklatar” (with Andrey Anro and Aliaxandar Adamau)