The exhibition continues the artist’s study on material and communication. The bronze series features 30 etched and polished plaques. The porcelain series features 18 asymmetric squares alongside a house of cards.
“Bobkova uses materials to explore our relationship with the linear progression of time. With both metal and ceramics, the process of craftsmanship is often arduous: porcelain hand-rolled paper thin and carefully fired to produce delicate sheets; bronze painstakingly engraved with abstract images transcribed from the sound waves of digital voice notes. They maintain an air of fragility distinct from their rugged canvas, just as the porcelain house of cards instils an anxiety reflective of the unstable nature of the present moment. The artwork in both materials is indirect, and the interpretive work of the viewer plays a central role in its messaging. Their minimalist installation encourages the contemplation of these deceptively simple pieces” — Art4 Gallery.
About the artist
Liza Bobkova
Liza Bobkova, Director of Art4 Gallery, is also a multidisciplinary contemporary artist who works with total installation, sculpture, video, and drawing to explore how individuals are socialised in the modern world.
Bobkova graduated from the Artistic Metalworking Department of St Petersburg’s Stieglitz State Academy of Art and Design (2011), applying the tools of a classical art education to create experiments with materials including metal, porcelain, fabric, glass, photography, and video.
Immediately after graduating, she left the contemporary art world to work as a blacksmith, actively resuming her career as an artist in 2016.
Bobkova was Guest Lecturer on the master’s programme at Stieglitz Academy, where she created a contemporary art library to give students access to up-to-date publications on the art of today.
When the war in Ukraine began, she left her job and the studio where she had worked for 17 years. In 2022 she moved to Moscow where she launched the Tupik contemporary art fair at Art4 Museum. Since late 2023, she has been based in London.
Image credit: (detail) Liza Bobkova, ‘No. 0946’, 2023 – 2024, courtesy Art4 Gallery.
