Yelena Popova
Yelena Popova was born in 1978 in Ozyorsk, Russia. Since 2003, she lives and works in the United Kingdom. Yelena studied at Moscow Art Theatre School (MXAT) before graduating from MA Painting at the Royal College of Art. She was selected for "Bloomberg New Contemporaries" (2011) and "New Sensations" (2011). In 2014, she was shortlisted for the Arts Foundation Award in Painting and selected to be part of Thames and Hudson’s new publication 100 Painters of Tomorrow. In 2016, her work was included in Vitamin P3 (The 108 International Artists Revolutionizing Painting Today), published by Phaidon Press.
Yelena’s work often reflects her upbringing in the Urals, and is also influenced by Russian Constructivism, trying to capture the continuous industrial development and the landscape of contemporary capitalism. Growing up in a secret Soviet nuclear settlement, she often turns her attention to nuclear history and heritage. Yelena is part of the Nuclear Culture research group led by Goldsmiths University, London.
Popova also created a display structure for the stones she collected on her journeys. The structure replicates the shapes of the reactor’s contaminated graphite core. The stones represent the industrialized landscapes and the Deep Time — each has its own geological age, which is much larger than the whole human history. Scientists proposed a new geological epoch Anthropocene to mark the significant human impact on Earth’s geology and ecosystem. The first radionuclide fall out after bombing Hiroshima and Nagasaki must be the day it started. Just as in Buddhist tradition the Scholar Rock Display creates a space for meditation on the deep connections between our nuclear industry, the landscape and the passage of time.
Education
2009 - 11 MA Painting, Royal College of Art (RCA), London.
1995 - 00 Set Design and Construction, Moscow Art Theatre School, Moscow
SELECTED SOLO SHOWS (2014~)
2024 Of Dust and Breath, Ione and Mann, London
2022 Made Ground, Cample Line, Thornhill, Scotland.
2021 Showing Now, Touring Later. The Art House, Worcester University, UK
2020 Landscapes of Power, Philipp von Rosen, Cologne.
The Scholar Stones Project, Holden galery, Manchester
2018 Her Name is Prometheus, Letranger, London
Настоящим Удостоверяется, Osnova, Moscow, Russia
Townlets, The Art House, Wakefield, UK
2017 This Certifies That, Philipp von Rosen, Cologne, Germany
Elements, Girton College, University of Cambridge
2016 After Image, Nottingham Contemporary, Nottingham, UK
2015 Unsensed, Hatton Gallery, Newcastle (curated by Madeleine Kennedy)
Recite a Painting, Upton House, National Trust, Warwickshire, UK
2014 A World to Gain, Figge von Rosen Gallery, Cologne
Drying Time, Paradise Row, London
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS (2019~)
2024 Timescapes, Shtager&Shch, London, curated by Maria Hinel.
2023 Matter as Actor, Lisson Gallery, London, curated by Greg Hilty
Hoarfrost on Our Lips, Paradise Works, Manchester, curated by Will Marshall
Colonial Endurance, Nieuwe Instituut , Rotterdam, curated by TOK
PostPetrochemical Practices, Cromer Art space
2022 Made in X, curated by Joachim Naudts, Extra City Kunsthal, Antwrp, 04.02-29.05.2022
Fragile, at Austin Desmond Fine Art 08.04.2022-09.05.2022
2021 Ural Industrial Biennial, Yekaterinburg, Russia.
Every Women Biennial, London
Drawing Biennial, Drawing Room, London
Examination of a case. Pop and Politics in Contemporary Textile Arts
2020 Heavy Duty paper, Division of Labour, Wocester.
We are here, Female Artists in Cambridge Colleges, Heong Gallery, Cambridge.
Slow Painting, curated by Martin Herbert for Hayward touring.
2019 Parade, Broadway Gallery, Letchworth Garden City
What branches grow out of this stony rubbish? Letrangere, London March-May
Estragon, Belmacz, London, April-May
RESIDENCIES
The Art House, Wakefield, May 2018
CCA Andratx, Mallorca, October 2017
West Dean College, July, 2017
Girton College Cambridge October 2016-June 2017
Ciltivamos Cultura, Portugal, September, 2015
Upton House National Trust, 2014- 2015
Moks, Estonia, August, 2011
AWARDS
2013 Shortlisted for The Arts Foundation Awards: Painting
2011 The Outset Prize, The Parallel Prize and The Red Mansion Prize
2010 RCA Oberon Book Award / Second prize, judged by Peter Blake
COLLECTIONS
Arts Council Collection (London), Government Art Collection (London), RCA Collection (London), Saatchi Collection (London), Zabludowicz Collection (London), In4Art Collection (Netherlands), Jalima Collection (Dusseldorf), Nottingham Castle Collection, New Hall Art Collection (Cambridge), LWL Museum (Munster), CCA Andrax Collection (Mallorca, Spain), Sea Foundation (Netherlands) and various private collections.
AVAILABLE WORKS
