Sergey Kononov at Galerie Max Hetzler

Naked couples intertwined and portraits of family members, created from photographs taken over the last five years, form Sergey Kononov's new solo exhibition at Galerie Max Hetzler — the artist's second with the gallery and the first in its Parisian space. Translating photographic immediacy into oil on canvas, the Ukrainian artist suspends scenes of intimacy and vulnerability in time: in "Svitlana and Slavik" (2026), a couple merges into a single organism against a monochromatic green background; in another canvas, without the use of color, two women embrace on white sheets, and the surrounding space only reveals its structure to a careful gaze. In larger-scale works, Kononov depicts more elaborate interior scenes — a male nude on a parquet floor, or the artist's own grandmother, lying on a floral quilt in a patterned dress — always with a palette that evokes the grainy aesthetic of old photographs. Kononov's painting dialogues with references such as Botticelli's use of light without shadow, Van Gogh's rhythmic brushwork, Gauguin's intense colors, and Egon Schiele's elongated figures, offering, according to the gallery's press release, moments of contemplation in contrast to the sociopolitical turbulence of his country of origin.