AS IF WE HAD NOTHING TO BE AFRAID OFPersonal exhibition of artist duet Zoja Golubeva and Denis Evin held in GrataJJ gallery in Riga, Latvia
from January, 29th until April, 4th 2026 Fear begins as a slight prick deep within the mind, but rapidly surges to the surface, threatening to shatter an already fractured reality. It can paralyze, turning us into observers of our own primal instincts: to run, to play dead, or to strike first—anything to hide the fact that we are truly afraid.
Artists Zoya Golubeva and Denis Evin attempt to capture this "space of the terrifying." They use different languages: from Denis’s digital waste, mirror illusions, and lonely kombucha cultures to Zoya’s canvases, which draw on the Baroque tradition to tell stories of despair and inner darkness. Nature unexpectedly joined the project as a co-author. Emerging from the organic structures of wild mushrooms, vivid images appeared on Zoya’s paintings—portraits and forgotten plots from her past that she later deciphered. In this space, the curator consciously chooses silence over "textual arrogance" or worn-out postmodern quotes. Against panic, the only remedy is not a text, but an encounter between two people: the viewer and the artist. The exhibition asks: what do we see when the anxiety finally recedes? Are we still the same, having parted with our horrors? This is an exhibition about a meeting. Palms up. With eyes wide shut from both fear and pleasure. In our talkative yet silent time, you are its co-authors by default. |
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