PRESS RELEASE

Issued 2 November 2012. For immediate

release.

Joseph Badalov

Sonnet 119: photography

11-21 December 2012

Art Galleries Europe

18 Maddox Street, London W1S 1PL

Russian photographer Joseph Badalov’s first UK

show, Sonnet 119, opens in London on 11 December

2012. Curated by Sabina Orudjeva of Artis

Foundation, the exhibition comprises a series of

images inspired by Shakespeare’s sonnet 119, also

known as Siren Tears.

In these new works Joseph Badalov develops the theme of the Siren, a mystical creature in female

form who suffers and raves in the ruins of the real world, wastes away in the darkness of night and

tries to reach us through the looking-glass. Badalov’s works show an inconceivable number of

spaces and times or, to be more precise, non-times, leaving the viewer the right to choose

between reality and fantasy, to define the boundaries of the possible, to form their own theories of

the creation of the illusion.

The effects in Badalov’s work are the result of experiments using mirrors, lenses, polythene

sheeting, sand and flame. These unusual technical decisions allow him to achieve uniquely

expressive images which are not in any way altered using computer editing.

The exhibition is supported by Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Avilon and Prime.

For further information and images contact:

Ruth Addison ra.artconsulting@gmail.com UK +44 7780 996387 Russia +7 909 690 9716

Notes to editors:

1. Joseph Badalov was born in Moscow. He is a successful businessman who has also worked as

a photographer for the past 10 years. Sonnet 119 will be shown at Palazzo Ferrajoli in Rome

1-15 November 2012. Badalov’s work has been shown in Moscow and Paris. www.ibadalov.ru

2. Artis Foundation works to promote Russian artists at home and abroad and to bring innovative

contemporary art projects to Russia. Sabina Orudjeva’s most recent curatorial project is Vanitas,

a group show of work by contemporary Dutch and Flemish artists at Moscow Museum of

Modern Art (14 November - 10 December 2012).

3. The exhibition is open to the public 12-21 December 2012: Monday-Saturday 1100-1900,

Sunday 1200-1800. The private view takes place on 11 December, 1800-2000.

Artis Foundation

10 Ulitsa Burdenko, 119021 Moscow Tel. +7 495 708 3774 www.artisfoundation.com

Jealousy, 2012, Diasec mounted C-print, 90x70cm

© Joseph Badalov