The Hole is proud to present our first show of 2022, an immersive debut solo exhibition by Gosha Levochkin, “Last Element.”

Russian constructivist shapes, zips of electric current, swirls from his mother’s pastries and computer game characters unite, clash and reverberate in Gosha’s explosive compositions. For his first New York solo show this Moscow-born, Brooklyn-based artist has elaborated his signature repertoire of human comedy, infusing it with allusions to fire, water and mystical digital symbols rendered in acrylic paint on canvas. An elaborate multi-screen, site-specific audiovisual installation further immerses the viewer in Gosha’s parallel reality.

With each new body of work, Levochkin seeks to “turn up the volume by 10%” and here, the sound and electricity are scintillating. His jagged linework looks like the colors have been plugged in, and hot red orange and yellow resemble flames licking or neurons firing. The paintings are replete with mine carts that roll, nails, thorns and studs that fly, pipes and drains, levers and pulleys. Somewhere in each one are indeed some figures! Pared down to basic circles and shapes, these figures are linked as in a Rube Goldberg machine where each moving part triggers the next trap in a circuit of causality.

Of course, they are paintings and are not in any way moving, however, for his inaugural solo show at the Hole, Gosha created an audiovisual animation to bring his imagery to life. Since his first job at an animation studio, Levochkin thinks fondly of early video-gaming and sees animation as the ultimate machine, a painting “coming together like a clock.” Levochkin creates a work about water and interconnectivity, buried in our gallery wall, along with Jonny Lee, a motion graphic artist from South Korea now based in NYC, and Jay Rothman, who had a background in early video game music, to do the score.

Gosha Levochkin (b. 1986 Moscow) grew up during the fall of the Soviet Union, then lived in LA and now resides in New York City. Over the years, jobs at an animation studio, an art supply store and as an assistant to artist Ben Jones have all shaped his development, and he began exhibiting work only a few years ago. With shows at KP Projects, Ojiri Gallery, The Garage Amsterdam and Over The Influence in Los Angeles under his belt, this emerging artist is starting to be more widely known.

Last Element

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