Solo Exhibition by Evgeny Muzalevsky
Large-Format Works from 2022–2023
This series was conceived by the artist specifically for an institutional project. The exhibition also showcases the results of a creative collaboration between the artist and his mother.


07.10.2024—16.02.2025

Evgeny Muzalevsky
Monochrome. With Mom Behind My Back

From September 7, 2024 to February 16, 2025, the Multimedia Art Museum, Moscow presents the exhibition "Monochrome, with Mom Behind My Back" by Evgeny Muzalevsky.
Evgeny Muzalevsky is one of the most notable young artists working in traditional painting techniques on Russia's contemporary art scene.
The museum exhibition centers on monochrome works created between 2022-2023. Muzalevsky recalls beginning this series: "I was living in a small dormitory room at the time. For about a month I couldn't sleep. To distract myself, I read constantly. I found it difficult to process the present, so I began digging into the past, the 1920s-1940s. I read extensively about the OBERIU poets. I reflected on what confinement means. Looking at photographs of cultural figures from that era and reading their biographies, I tried to encapsulate all of this into a kind of gallery - a rigidly structured space that resembles both confinement and an archive."
Part of the exhibition showcases the results of the artist's creative collaboration with his mother. The progression toward their joint work felt inevitable. The image of his mother, references to her, and meditations about her have been a constant presence in Muzalevsky's work. This collaboration began as a form of therapy the artist devised for his mother while she was in prison. The remarkable, poignant, and skillfully executed embroideries replicate his series of vertical canvases.
Exposition
Selected artworks

Fools, 2022

Oil and oil pastel on canvas, 205 x 345 cm

Nun's Foundling, 2022
Oil on canvas, 281 x 201 cm
My Tomcat and Her Husband, 2022
Oil and oil pastel on canvas, 204,5 x 303,5 cm
Butterfly Bowl, 2023
Oil and oil pastel on canvas, 2 parts: 254 x 149 cm; 248 x 147 cm
Untitled, 2022
Watercolour and pencil on paper, 70 x 100 cm
Nail Biting, 2022
Oil on canvas, 169 x 125,5 cm