Join us on VOLTA Visits, a recurring series where we spend studio time with VOLTA exhibiting artists and learn more about their background, process, and projects.

Artjom Chepovetskyy’s studio is located at ATELIERFRANKFURT in Frankfurt’s East End. Founded in 2004, the studio house offers 11,000 square meters of space for over 200 artists and creatives. One of the largest art centers in Germany, ATELIERFRANKFURT fosters interdisciplinary collaboration and artistic diversity.

Entering Artjom’s studio space on the fifth floor, the room feels very tidy and clean. Three of his mid-size paintings hang on the wall, a workstation on one side of the room, a rack filled with paint tins, and remains of sprayed paint on another wall.

Deeply ingrained in figurative painting, Artjom turned towards abstraction in 2018. As he says, applying paint layer by layer on the canvas’ surface felt insufficient. This is when he discovered chiffon, a lightweight and transparent fabric, to replace the sturdy canvas and open his paintings up into a third dimension.

Artjom creates shapes hovering on the painting’s surface, letting the wooden frame and laminated paper shine through the ground. His paintings emerge on and behind the chiffon, with patterns and forms abstracted from the urban environment. Some in loud pink, green and yellow colors, others fading in shades of blue and grey.

The finalized work, as well as the process of painting and creation, are fundamental for Artjom’s work. He constantly explores the medium’s limitation by self-critically deconstructing his own work. Part of this process is releasing the old, reorganizing, and making space for the new. Like a glass of water that needs to be emptied before it can be filled again.

Artjom’s work process is developing constantly. He refers to the act of painting as collecting a set of tools. Keeping them in a toolbox, rearranging and sorting them, only keeping the ones he actually needs. Making space for new ones, his toolbox isn’t nearly half full yet. Especially in the past year, while deepening his work, he creates new tools and constantly refines his practice.

“I paint in my head.”

An empty canvas – or in his case an empty stretched chiffon – offers opportunities, space for new decisions and new beginnings. Since born in Odessa, Ukraine and moving to Germany at the age of 18, starting over and finding his own path has become part of his routine. 

Artjom’s paintings are difficult to capture through digital media. By losing their third dimension they become incomprehensible and defy themselves. One needs to experience them in real life. For VOLTA’s September Edition, Artjom will create a new series of works in various formats. He is presented by Galerie Heike Strelow, Frankfurt since 2019.

ARTJOM CHEPOVETSKYY
Born 1984 in Odessa, Ukraine
Lives and works in Frankfurt

Education

2012–16 Master student of Prof. Anne Berning
2007–12 Student of Prof. Thomas Schmidt, Prof. Klaus Vogelgesang, Gabriele Basch, and Prof. Andrea Büttner
2007–16 Academy of Arts Mainz, Germany
2007–16 Study of Philosophy, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Germany

Awards

2018 Advancement award for artists in Mainz
2018 Eb-Dietzsch art prize for painting, Volksbank eG, Gera

Recent Exhibitions (selection)

2021 Alabaster Blue (Solo), Galerie Heike Strelow, Frankfurt
2019 Paper Selections, Galerie Heike Strelow, Frankfurt
2019 Painting after Painting II, Galerie Heike Strelow, Frankfurt
2019 PALATA, Kunstverein Opelvillen, Rüsselsheim
2019 BREATHE and FREE, Museum St.Wendel
2019 Raumsprung, Galerie Kunst2, Heidelberg
2019 REMMIDEMMI, RAUM BAART, Mainz
2018 FLUX4ART 2018, Kunstverein Germersheim
2018 Ready to Rumble, Galerie Kunst2, Heidelberg
2018 This will be our little secret, RAUM BAART, Mainz