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Katya Muromtseva, a New York-based artist with a distinct voice in contemporary art, is set to unveil her latest series of monumental watercolor triptychs in the United Arab Emirates. Titled “Over the Slopes of Speech,” this exhibition marks Muromtseva’s debut in the UAE, spotlighting her engagement with the intricate histories and narratives of women immigrants. Hosted by NIKA Project Space, the exhibition runs from March 1 to May 4, 2024.
Muromtseva, renowned for her large-scale paintings, videos, and installations, has long been a chronicler of personal and collective memory. Her new body of work, developed during her tenure at the NIKA Project Space Research and Residency program in Dubai, emerges from heartfelt interactions with immigrant women in both the USA and UAE. These dialogues, deeply personal in nature, lay the foundation for her latest watercolor compositions, bringing to the fore themes of home, borders, refugees, and the interweaving of human destinies.
The exhibition’s title, derived from Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish’s poem “No More And No Less,” underlines the resilience of women against societal roles. Muromtseva employs Darwish’s verse as a conceptual anchor for her paintings, illuminating the often-invisible yet crucial presence of these women in society.
Characterized by fluid figures, a vibrant color palette, and grid-like black lines, her artworks are ambitious in scale for the medium of watercolor. Muromtseva explores the intersections of documented reality and artistic imagination, figuration and abstraction. She believes that through personal stories, we can mirror our times and establish profound connections.
During her residency in Dubai, Muromtseva interviewed women from diverse backgrounds, including Ukraine, Ghana, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Russia. These interactions were pivotal in shaping her exhibition. Muromtseva, an immigrant herself since the onset of the Russia-Ukraine war, seeks solace in shared experiences, using her art to rewrite history from the perspective of its direct actors — the people.
Additional works in the exhibition include triptychs from interviews conducted in the US, featuring immigrant women from Kazakhstan, Mexico, Egypt, and Romania. Veronika Berezina, founder of NIKA Project Space, remarks, “Katya’s research-based work is a catalyst for stimulating discourse surrounding societal experiences and historical narratives.”
Exhibition opening: Friday, 1 March 2024
NIKA Project Space, Al Khayat Avenue, Dubai
From 6PM
