Elena Khurtova (born in Samara, RU), is an interdisciplinary artist living and working in Amsterdam, NL. Her artistic practice spans the fields of installation, performance, video, drawing and artist books, where materiality and temporality play an essential role.
Reflecting on the interplay of fragility and resilience of human and environmental conditions, Khurtova’s work investigates notions of care and control. Through sensitive performativity, she looks for a primeval understanding of the world around us; lead by an intuitive interaction with matter wherein she does not stand on the world but strives for an interaction from within. In her work, Khurtova aims to become an insider to worldly processes, building poetic relationships with concrete and fluid materials and mapping the transience between human and nonhuman agencies. By doing so, she detours the Western origins of domination, speaking of a world, wherein one only knows something through an eloquent process of self-discovery.
In recent years Khurtova’s practice has transformed from a collaborative work with Marie Ilse Bourlanges into an individual path.
Elena Khurtova's work has been exhibited internationally, among others in 3bisF Contemporary Art Centre, Aix-en-Provence, part of the parallel program of Manifesta 13 in Marseille, FR, Looiersgracht 60, NL, Arti & Amicitiae, NL, Kunsthalle Lottozero, IT and Korean Ceramic Biennale.
In 2019 Khurtova was awarded the 'Proven talent' grant from the Mondriaan Funds, NL and the artistic research fellowship of the Gerrit Rietveld Academie, NL. In conjunction with her artistic practice, she teaches at the Art and Research programme of the Gerrit Rietveld Academie / UvA and the Royal Academy of Arts of The Hague, NL.
Contact: info@elenakhurtova.com / Derde Wittenburgerdwarsstraat 1F, 1018 KR Amsterdam, NL