Dasha Shishkin (born in Moscow in 1977, lives in New York) makes drawings whose disturbing visual world captivates the viewer. In her phantasmagorias, the all-too-human blossoms in bizarre ways, exuding a morbid perfume. Shishkin’s figures are sexually ambiguous, graceful and gentle, but also cruel. Their actions seem to be guided by secret obsessions and the logic of nightmares. The artist is clearly influenced by Surrealism, but also by outsider artists like Henry Darger. While measuring her stupendous skills against the likes of Toulouse-Lautrec, coloured Japanese woodcuts and the great comic artists, Shishkin never denies her contemporaneity. We owe this exhibition to the initiative and commitment of Günter Lorenz. It is also a contribution to the 6th Biennial of Drawing (24 January – 21 February 2021).
Made possible by permanent loans from the Günter Lorenz Collection.