oxana tregubova

il confine del mondo abitato

curated by edoardo monti

francesca antonini arte contemporanea, rome

from october 17th 2024

Francesca Antonini Arte Contemporanea is pleased to present Il confine del mondo abitato, Oxana Tregubova's (Russia, 1990) first solo exhibition at the gallery.

The project, curated by Edoardo Monti, presents an accurate selection of paintings and papers where various natural elements are widely featured. An untouched virgin nature is celebrated, a haven of shapes and colors, where vegetation invades the nearby spaces without interference. 

The artist's research was inspired by the story of the Garden of Eden, considered man's first dwelling place, a place of authentic encounter with nature. The set of works produces a narrative where the garden is exalted as locus amoenus.The painter's works evoke the symbolism of the biblical garden, when man still knew how to appreciate the sacredness of creation. The garden is celebrated as a place of physical and spiritual consolation, within which man performs with care, love and attention all those small gestures necessary for a plant to grow. The natural elements, made up of lush vegetation and floral elements, are highlighted by the sidereal blackness of the backgrounds. Actually, flowers and plants are used by Oxana Tregubova as a pretext to play with shapes and colors, creating layered tangles of matter and color, initially conceived only digitally and then materialized on canvas.

The attention of the artist is on all those flashes of greenery that arise spontaneously in unexpected spaces. But yet, among them, sometimes small gestures of affection pop up among them: of hands, faces or hair foliage. All tiny, unobtrusive presages of human presence.