In Memoriam: Elena Khudiakova

Dadiani Fine Art is delighted to present a series of still life paintings by Elena Khudiakova, the celebrated Russian artist and fashion designer who died earlier this year aged 57.

Conceived between 2012 and 2014, each painting depicts objects that would be familiar to anyone who grew up in the old USSR – dolls attired in native costumes, leather-bound books, a television set placed in the corner of a room broadcasting a ballet. Painted from memory, each can be seen as a nostalgic evocation of Khudiakova’s own childhood. However, there is much more at play; her use of bold primary colours and brand names draw them into the realm of Pop Art, and in doing so she wryly comments on the Soviet Union’s repudiation of Western-style capitalism.