Polina Sokolova

2026
Polina Sokolova

i dream of apple trees 45 x 120 oil on canvas 
untitled 50 x 40 oil on canvas

untitled (red landscape) 120 x 170 oil on canvas 
the nerve 18 x 24 oil on canvas
to have and to hold 120 x 150 oil on canvas

untitled 18 x 24 oil on canvas 
untitled  155 x 200 oil on canvas
on edge 40 x 30 cm oil on canvas
interlinked 90x 130 oil on canvas (photo: Alberto Favara)
untitled 60 x 60 oil on canvas
 untitled 18 x 24 oil and dust on canvas
in the archive 50 x 60 oil on canvas
untitled 90 x 130 oi on canvas (photo: Alberto Favara)
memory nr. 2 100 x 70 oil on canvas
untitled 20 x 30 oil on canvas
untitled 18 x 31 oil on canvas
untitled 35 x 50 oil on canvas
watching the sun 30 x 40 oil on canvas
the gate 45 x 24 oil on canvas
shore 20 x 25 oil on canvas
untitled 20 x 25 oil on canvas
untitled 111 x 111 oil on canvas
untitled 120 x 80 oil on canvas
untitled 120 x 167 oil on canvas and tissues
untitled (green landscape)  140 x 110 oil on canvas, fabric and paper
Contact

inquires: studio.polinasokolova@gmail.com
instagram: @polinasokolova._


 
Education

Art and Image Expansion (Prof. D. Richter), Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, Austria
2021- currently

Undergraduate Painting (Prof. O. McCausland), Slade School of Fine Arts London, UK
2025 (Exchange)

BSC Journalism and Communication Studies, University of Vienna, Austria
2018 - 2024

Linguistics with a focus on German, University of Tver, Russia 
2017 - 2018

Exhibitions (Selection)
Tales from fractured minds, group show @The Address Gallery, Brescia, Italy
21.2.26- 29.3.26

Lucky Loop, group show @Schwindel LLC, Vienna
3.10.-25.10.25
 
Funkhaus Residents, group show @Never At Home, Vienna
22.3.-5.4.2025

doors are closing, collaboration with Rudolf Leeb Gallery, PARALLEL VIENNA 2024
11.9.-22.9.2024

Body Language, group show @IRL Gallery, Los Angeles
24.2.-17.3.2024 

Love Manifest, group show @CouCou Gallery, Kassel 
15.12.2023 - 2.02.2024

what ends when we say farewell? group show @Contemporary Matters, Vienna
15.8. - 28.07.2023

having a good time, group show @Exhibit Studio, Vienna
22.3. - 23.5.2023

It's nice to meet you, group show @exhibit.her, baggage studio, Vienna
16.07. - 18.07.2021


Polina Sokolova’s oil paintings are to repressive socioeconomic-political systems what maggots are to apples. The works do not hesitate to collapse the distances between viewer and subject, yet that seems to be of little help, since the depicted spaces and objects remain inaccessible. Closed doors and drawers. Turned-away figures. A shot woodpecker. Wandering eyes. Venus truncated at her ankles. A tension persists between the hope for revelation and hopelessness generated by their harsh stillness. Simultaneously, being stuck in an elevator implies that one is already inside the building. So does the sight of shut cabinets in the archives. En passant, apples, one of the artist’s favored subjects, though untouched by insects or decay, are no source of comfort either. Contrary to expectation, it is their quiet perfection and attained stillness, evoking an almost lost memory, that brings out their uncanny quality. Sokolova’s apples become more actors than fruits. They are meant to be perceived, not eaten. When set against the artist’s signature metallic surfaces, they raise questions about contemporary legacy. Ultimately, the artist accomplishes something ambiguous: the claustrophobic, solitary spaces retain a certain intimacy. Even what is initially anonymous or devoid of individuality asserts itself as personal. Sokolova succeeds in sustaining attention on images dealing with repression and absence within a culture organized by the economy of attention that privileges spectacle and loudness. The recurring simplicity of the compositions serves as a reminder that an image requires a viewer, even if what remains visible is the desire to see itself. The paintress emphasizes that it is the closed doors that need to be looked at the most.

Iga Lapa · 16 June 2026 · Frankfurt am Main
© Polina Sokolova, all rights reserved
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